Crisis 'nowhere close to 2007 World Cup loss' - Dhoni

India's Test side has not played so badly since 1999-2000 when a whitewash in Australia was followed by a 2-0 home series loss to South Africa. But this defeat to England is not the lowest point MS Dhoni has sunk to as an international cricketer.

After two whitewashes in England and Australia, India have now lost a Test series at home, their last piece of pride in Test cricket, but Dhoni said he has seen worse.

"It has been tough," Dhoni said after the draw in Nagpur that gave the series to England, "But there are not many things that will come close to when we lost the 2007 50-over World Cup. This is not even close to that."

This, he said, was a rebuilding stage. "We are going through a tough time, we are going through a stage where we will have to see what will work for us," Dhoni said. "A few big players for us have left us. Youngsters coming up will have to fill the gap, and seniors will have to take extra responsibility till the juniors start getting runs or start taking wickets."

The quality of spinners coming through has been a big concern. Dhoni said he wouldn't want to judge somebody like Piyush Chawla - who has been averaging 40 and upwards in first-class cricket for the last three years - based on just one match. "It's very difficult if you assess a youngster based on one performance," Dhoni said. "You have to see how they go once they play a few games. They will get the exposure. Not to forget Piyush came after five years so he will feel the nerves. It wasn't a fantastic wicket for him to bowl.

"There was no pace. It's very difficult to deceive the batsman with his wrong'un or the legbreaks. You have to analyse everything. Just don't see the stats - so many overs, so many maidens, so many runs, wicket column empty - and think you have bowled badly. We have seen you get wickets off full tosses or caught at point through a cut. We need to analyse honestly to see if the batsman or the bowler is doing well. It's not only the runs that say the batsman is batting well or five wickets in the bowler's case."

Dhoni spoke of the importance of backing the youngsters. "What you need to see is if you don't give youngsters chances how do you know whether they are good enough or not?" Dhoni said. "You won't get all of them scoring big hundreds in their first game. Some of the big players, they started off with even four or five zeros.

"You have to back youngsters who you think are very talented. Who you think can succeed at the top level. Even if they don't score in a few games, it is important to back them. It's about trying them and giving them a chance to prove themselves. Scoring runs in domestic cricket is not a certain sign they will score at the top level but you have to back them so you know with proper exposure at first-class level and proper backing at international level, at some time they will start scoring."

Dhoni said the batting and pace bowling was the difference between the two sides in this series. "In this series the batting was the department that was lacking," he said. "In the sense we needed to score more runs. Mumbai was a tough wicket, but apart from that we were not able to get into big partnerships.

"In cricket it's not about who is scoring how many runs. It's about between two individuals how big the partnership is. We were not really able to have those big partnerships that can have the big impact, especially when playing in subcontinent."

Dhoni praised Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, who outbowled his spinners, but he said James Anderson was crucial. "Anderson bowled very well throughout the series on wickets that there was no help for the fast bowler," he said. "That was crucial. He tested the batsmen all the time. In his second or third spell when he started to get reverse and yet the ball was slightly on the harder side. The major difference between the two sides was James Anderson who bowled really well."

Dhoni didn't give any indication about Sachin Tendulkar's future. Asked if we will see Tendulkar again, he said, "I hope so." Has he indicated anything to the captain? "No."

@Hash_Tag: This isn't an English language forum so don't try to tell me what gloating means. My comments when Eng have lost have purely due to the mismatch between the claims made by the Eng ex players and their teams performance. I do not expect you to have that fine a mind to see the diff between a matter-of-fact laugh and gloating. You seem to suffer from a strong inferiority complex and do not even have a proper identity. You claim you are not English and yet you take their side so strongly even though they have proven to be the weakest of all #1 sides in Tests so far. The defending T20 champs were 80 a.0 in the next and have lost to Ireland and BD in WC, lost 1-6 to Aus and 0-5 to Ind and yet that group shamelessly whirls its #1 rank but somehow you think it is the Ind fan group that has to be the most hated one? Do you even know what its all about? You've never talked to me here before and perhaps never commented but accuse me of being biased and prejudiced. Aren't you biased?

POSTED BY
King-Cobra
on | December 19, 2012, 15:22 GMT

India's absurd performances in recent times is hugely tied to the success of IPL. When you draft pinch hitters who actually don't know when to leave a ball and recruit bowlers who thrive on defensive techniques, into the side, the result will be a sorry state. The 2007 T20 WC win has actually come as a curse in disguise for India. It has clearly commercialized cricket in India and the fan base also has somewhat changed with it - what I mean is they want to see their players starring in every format, even if it means failure at the highest level. Watch this space: Things will only go worse from here for India. They are trying to figure what went wrong all the time, while they just don't have the temperament for test cricket. I have said this over and over, Indian batting line-up is filled with stroke players who want to go after every delivery, including the latest sensation Pujara. A well deserved loss for them, with further slide evident.

POSTED BY
Hash_Tag
on | December 19, 2012, 10:03 GMT

@Harmony111. You sir clearly do not know what the word gloating means. Even now you cannot stop yourself from pouring out insults. You flame every page that you have commented on for a long time now. Comments by you and people like you are the primary reasons why we are the most unloved group of cricket fans in the world. Please stop giving us a bad name.

POSTED BY
garibaldi
on | December 19, 2012, 9:24 GMT

That Dhoni can even compare a test series loss to a less-than-favourable result in a World Cup limited over competition says it all: he and his team clearly prize 50 over cricket more highly. With that attitude, India will never return to dominate, or even compete seriously, in test cricket, which is sad for all cricket fans.
If only Indian cricketers would look honestly at their failings! This is the difference between England and India at the moment: England have had a terrible year, losing heavily in Pakistan in tests, only managing a draw with SL, and after the expected victory over WI, collapsing to the greater might of SA before their captain resigned and the KP row broke out- yet through recognising their failings (eg against spin), and working ceaselessly on them, they have managed to pull off this fantastic victory. Dhoni and co: take a leaf out of England's book!

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 19, 2012, 8:56 GMT

@Hash_Tag: I thought you had some grey matter but it seems you have pawned it somewhere.

It was ENG who made the claim that they will remain #1 for 5-8-10 years and promptly lost to Pak 0-3. It Was Eng who were made to look foolish there thus I laughed.

It was Eng who were whipped 0-5 in Ind unlike the ODI loss in Eng which was marred by rain and a match was tied. Thus I laughed.

It was Eng who were #1 when SA came and defeated them 0-2 AT HOME. Ind never lost a series at home when they were #1 and even drew it 1-1 with SA when they went there. Thus I laughed.

For all the noise made by Eng fans, Eng's stay at #1 was much much shorter than India's stay. So much for the 5-10 years claim. Thus I laughed.

I have the right to go to any forum and comment there. You are no body to contest that. And I hardly care for what you think of the quality of my comments.

As for the gloating, I have done none. I never claimed Ind will win 4-0 in Ind vs Eng & have congratulated Eng for the win.

to all the indians who degraded the english team earlier this year (against pak) and said that they face another whitewash in india -> BUHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHA

on a serious note, i agree with many that the main focus of the indians is t20 .. they are not even giving tests a chance. thats y the results. Indians can clearly come a better team if they just focus. they have a lot of talent in their domestic circuit. As a pakistani, just want to say is. its always the media and some of the fans which over-hype and pressurize this team! and Congratulation to the English. They have bounced back fairly well. not just this series. but this whole tour.. pakistan sri lanka india

POSTED BY
basusri133b
on | December 19, 2012, 5:04 GMT

For crying out loud,this guy is not even on the same page ! His comparing this defeat to the 2007 WC loss beggars belief. He should never again be selected for Test Cricket, let alone Captaining the Test Side. Could we fall any lower than this ?

POSTED BY
Jaggadaaku
on | December 19, 2012, 3:46 GMT

@ Vishal Pathak: The fans and the people who praise someone/team, has a prime right to criticize them when they don't perform well. Because if we give respect to someone for his greatness, then we must have rights to take it back when he is not capable of it. For i.e. Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir. Sachin made 236 runs in his last 18 innings of tests, but still doesn't want to retire. Do you think he deserves the respect? He is blocking one batsman's career. India gave an "Arjun" Award to Gautam in 2010 because of his exceptional performance in test cricket. Since his last century in January 2010, he played 47 innings without making a single ton.....comes forward 3-4 steps to take runs at every shot, no matter the ball is inside the first circle or in the hands of fielders. After losing the series, the captain doesn't wanna face the facts that their batsmen and bowlers are not hungry for victory.....some batsmen cannot survive more than 20 balls. Do they really deserve respect?

POSTED BY
Hash_Tag
on | December 18, 2012, 23:43 GMT

@Harmony111 - btw I am not English. Do not presume - it highlights and amplifies your prejudices even more.

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 21, 2012, 10:13 GMT

@Hash_Tag: This isn't an English language forum so don't try to tell me what gloating means. My comments when Eng have lost have purely due to the mismatch between the claims made by the Eng ex players and their teams performance. I do not expect you to have that fine a mind to see the diff between a matter-of-fact laugh and gloating. You seem to suffer from a strong inferiority complex and do not even have a proper identity. You claim you are not English and yet you take their side so strongly even though they have proven to be the weakest of all #1 sides in Tests so far. The defending T20 champs were 80 a.0 in the next and have lost to Ireland and BD in WC, lost 1-6 to Aus and 0-5 to Ind and yet that group shamelessly whirls its #1 rank but somehow you think it is the Ind fan group that has to be the most hated one? Do you even know what its all about? You've never talked to me here before and perhaps never commented but accuse me of being biased and prejudiced. Aren't you biased?

POSTED BY
King-Cobra
on | December 19, 2012, 15:22 GMT

India's absurd performances in recent times is hugely tied to the success of IPL. When you draft pinch hitters who actually don't know when to leave a ball and recruit bowlers who thrive on defensive techniques, into the side, the result will be a sorry state. The 2007 T20 WC win has actually come as a curse in disguise for India. It has clearly commercialized cricket in India and the fan base also has somewhat changed with it - what I mean is they want to see their players starring in every format, even if it means failure at the highest level. Watch this space: Things will only go worse from here for India. They are trying to figure what went wrong all the time, while they just don't have the temperament for test cricket. I have said this over and over, Indian batting line-up is filled with stroke players who want to go after every delivery, including the latest sensation Pujara. A well deserved loss for them, with further slide evident.

POSTED BY
Hash_Tag
on | December 19, 2012, 10:03 GMT

@Harmony111. You sir clearly do not know what the word gloating means. Even now you cannot stop yourself from pouring out insults. You flame every page that you have commented on for a long time now. Comments by you and people like you are the primary reasons why we are the most unloved group of cricket fans in the world. Please stop giving us a bad name.

POSTED BY
garibaldi
on | December 19, 2012, 9:24 GMT

That Dhoni can even compare a test series loss to a less-than-favourable result in a World Cup limited over competition says it all: he and his team clearly prize 50 over cricket more highly. With that attitude, India will never return to dominate, or even compete seriously, in test cricket, which is sad for all cricket fans.
If only Indian cricketers would look honestly at their failings! This is the difference between England and India at the moment: England have had a terrible year, losing heavily in Pakistan in tests, only managing a draw with SL, and after the expected victory over WI, collapsing to the greater might of SA before their captain resigned and the KP row broke out- yet through recognising their failings (eg against spin), and working ceaselessly on them, they have managed to pull off this fantastic victory. Dhoni and co: take a leaf out of England's book!

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 19, 2012, 8:56 GMT

@Hash_Tag: I thought you had some grey matter but it seems you have pawned it somewhere.

It was ENG who made the claim that they will remain #1 for 5-8-10 years and promptly lost to Pak 0-3. It Was Eng who were made to look foolish there thus I laughed.

It was Eng who were whipped 0-5 in Ind unlike the ODI loss in Eng which was marred by rain and a match was tied. Thus I laughed.

It was Eng who were #1 when SA came and defeated them 0-2 AT HOME. Ind never lost a series at home when they were #1 and even drew it 1-1 with SA when they went there. Thus I laughed.

For all the noise made by Eng fans, Eng's stay at #1 was much much shorter than India's stay. So much for the 5-10 years claim. Thus I laughed.

I have the right to go to any forum and comment there. You are no body to contest that. And I hardly care for what you think of the quality of my comments.

As for the gloating, I have done none. I never claimed Ind will win 4-0 in Ind vs Eng & have congratulated Eng for the win.

to all the indians who degraded the english team earlier this year (against pak) and said that they face another whitewash in india -> BUHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHA

on a serious note, i agree with many that the main focus of the indians is t20 .. they are not even giving tests a chance. thats y the results. Indians can clearly come a better team if they just focus. they have a lot of talent in their domestic circuit. As a pakistani, just want to say is. its always the media and some of the fans which over-hype and pressurize this team! and Congratulation to the English. They have bounced back fairly well. not just this series. but this whole tour.. pakistan sri lanka india

POSTED BY
basusri133b
on | December 19, 2012, 5:04 GMT

For crying out loud,this guy is not even on the same page ! His comparing this defeat to the 2007 WC loss beggars belief. He should never again be selected for Test Cricket, let alone Captaining the Test Side. Could we fall any lower than this ?

POSTED BY
Jaggadaaku
on | December 19, 2012, 3:46 GMT

@ Vishal Pathak: The fans and the people who praise someone/team, has a prime right to criticize them when they don't perform well. Because if we give respect to someone for his greatness, then we must have rights to take it back when he is not capable of it. For i.e. Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir. Sachin made 236 runs in his last 18 innings of tests, but still doesn't want to retire. Do you think he deserves the respect? He is blocking one batsman's career. India gave an "Arjun" Award to Gautam in 2010 because of his exceptional performance in test cricket. Since his last century in January 2010, he played 47 innings without making a single ton.....comes forward 3-4 steps to take runs at every shot, no matter the ball is inside the first circle or in the hands of fielders. After losing the series, the captain doesn't wanna face the facts that their batsmen and bowlers are not hungry for victory.....some batsmen cannot survive more than 20 balls. Do they really deserve respect?

POSTED BY
Hash_Tag
on | December 18, 2012, 23:43 GMT

@Harmony111 - btw I am not English. Do not presume - it highlights and amplifies your prejudices even more.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 20:08 GMT

Dhoni can defend his bowlers, blame the pitches (even though he asked for them), and praise the opposition all he wants, but deep inside we Indian fans know what a pathetic side we have become.

Politics has played a big role with the BCCI; the simple rule is that if you are not contributing to the team in any way, then you are not doing your duty as a cricketer and should be dropped. Unfortunately, that's not how the BCCI think. Gambhir, Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Zaheer would have all been dropped months ago had they played for Australia or even South Africa, regardless of past laurels.

India are in a transition phase, like SL and Aus were, yet are not dealing with their problems accurately. If I were the selector? Dropped the above players, and rebuilt a new team with juniors. Actually would've kept Sehwag in there for "experience" lol.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 19:32 GMT

Unbelievable that Dhoni is still spouting this garbage, even after everyone is clearly tired of his constant excuses/whining/pop psychology. Does he have to give a statement each time? He's clearly delusional on many counts (2007 World Cup ouster was worse than the horrid run over the last year and a half?? What is this man on?).

If he wants to give every youngster from India a chance, he should realize there are more worthy candidates than Piyush Chawla. Amit Mishra has a far better record on all counts.

POSTED BY
VAS4
on | December 18, 2012, 19:02 GMT

Does anyone here think Dhoni poking at all the greats of indian cricket who were there in that team? Especially the then captain? I feel Dhoni was not very well supported in these test matches. Players like Sehwag who does not care, are not doing any good for the team. I am not in favour of Dhoni when he supports certain players only. Eg:Piyush Chawla, Suresh Raina, R P Singh etc. I am disappointed with Gambhir, and I feel he could have done better, and if he had, it would have been a certain call for the team captaincy as well. How can we give him captaincy when his very position in the team is being questioned?

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 18:22 GMT

now this has to be the most uncalled for statement saying 2007 wc was worse loss..england beat india @ their own game @home..and this team has shown no spine for fight in 11 out of the last 12 tests played against Eng n Aus barring few individual performances..n still the players has guts to smile on the face of defeat saying winning n losing is part of the game (agreed, but 1win and 10 losses)..shameless to say the least..i'm still surprised that Sachin has not yet announced his retirement...

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 17:54 GMT

We find it is very difficult to fill the void created by the exits of Dravid and Laxman.And our bowling was always below par.We lack the fighting spirit and professional approach.

POSTED BY
pangebaaj
on | December 18, 2012, 17:36 GMT

Mr Dhoni
Sure this wont hurt as bad as 2007, since you were not the captain of team then.....
Also this shows ODIs are your priority and not test matches

POSTED BY
CricketingStargazer
on | December 18, 2012, 16:59 GMT

@jb633 There is no doubt that South Africa are #1 at present. And there is no doubt that the bottom four are West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (some people would exchange West Indies and New Zealand). The teams between are all more or less flawed in some way. The fact that it takes 4 years for results to work out of the ICC rankings means that India are probably flattered at present (and will have a nasty surprise when the annual update is made next summer). I would rate Sri Lanka above India *on recent form*, but below England, Pakistan and Australia. The fact that Pakistan play so few Tests makes it difficult to assess exactly where they are: Pakistan v South Africa will be fascinating! You can argue that both Pakistan and England are, on recent form, above Australia.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 16:38 GMT

Dear All,
I am living in north america and I am watching cricket here ,too. Since long time I am reading and watching cricket news. I have observed many times that all the Indian players and media used the word "seniors" for the players like sachin, shehwag, dravid and etc. Guys what is that "senior" things. Why you are not using the word " experienced " players instead of "seniors" . For me living in north american continent , we use this "senior" word for 65 year old guys . Have you seen this "senior" word used by English ,Australian or newzealand media or players. ? Players' selection supposed to be on performance , not on seniority. If players are not performing consistently then get rid of them and try the new good players. Every time India lost ,there was always the excuses. But you know what "job meets wohi sikander ".

POSTED BY
devprasad2011
on | December 18, 2012, 16:11 GMT

mr dhoni still looking for excuses after the loss...man if you cant take the responisblilty then dont talk ....i am a proud indian and i am disgusted at the play of my players...there is no fight in character as if they are just ready to loose....this >IPL have destroyed our cricket and too much money they get for not performing...have a look at sri lankan captains, if they dont perform,,they resign themselves....but our players are shameless....all proud indians please realise it is time for sehwag,gambhir,tendulkar and dhoni to go...enough is enough...i m ready for india to loose with new and young players rather than with these egoistic players

POSTED BY
bhrangi
on | December 18, 2012, 14:22 GMT

@VishalPathak : Dhoni took responsibility for winning moments himself that is the truth.. When almost star batsmen retire, even mighty captain Ricky's team lost their Ashes and eliminated in WC semifinals. It is always team . It was VVS , RD, Sachin , Gambhir , Yuvaraj , Kohli ,Zaheer , Harbajan and Raina's prime form achieved everything you stated - Dhoni's lucky to have captained this team. Now some retired and some not in form , so he is struggling. I would bet if anyone got this much in form team players, even you can be successful captain mate.

so finally some people from india see the sense - than dhoni needs to be removed asap. have been saying this for last 3 years. if he had not been part of test team for last 3 years a lot of humiliations could have been avoided.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 13:19 GMT

@Ruban......have you checked dhoni's captaincy record in Test both in india and abroad. If not please check it first and make comments. Or else just shut up. Dhoni is the one who made india to reach num 1 in test team for one year period.
At Home Venues 2008-2011 Mat 21 won15 lost1 (not included this year) 5 [99]
At Away Venues 2009-2012 mat 19 won 5 lost 9 5 [100]
TOTAL 2008-2012 40 20 10 0 10[101]
winning 15 and losing 1 in test series in 2 year period....does it sho any love and dedication towards the Test Cricket?

POSTED BY
bhrangi
on | December 18, 2012, 13:16 GMT

@rsrinath: As an indian , i differ with this guy. i am one who checked the cricinfo score pages for whole series. I love equally both test and ODI, but Indian players don't deserve our love in test. I feel now most of them enjoying their leisure time in pubs or in party, We poor fans fighting for them here.As rsrinath mentioned they will win the ODI series, suddenly everything will be alright. As an indian fan , If u don't bother about Test, stop playing it and humilate us, we are wasting our precious time in offices to check the scores and articles

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 18, 2012, 12:53 GMT

@ hifni: Who won the 1983 WC then? And if winning thw WC at home is no big deal then why have not Eng won it even once even though they have hosted the WC 4 times?

POSTED BY
rsrinath
on | December 18, 2012, 12:31 GMT

@hifni well, england did not win even at home even though they hosted 3 WC's
@9ST9 ya agreed that we messed up with this series but the likes of kohli,pujara,ashwin are relatively new to test crckt arena and we will definitely lose some series in such a transition state...but so much criticisms are unwarranted...

POSTED BY
Hash_Tag
on | December 18, 2012, 11:58 GMT

@Harmony111 on (December 18 2012, 06:33 AM GMT) your response, predictably, is laughable. You chose to come onto Pakistan V England forums and post - well, how best to describe it? rubbish. Hiding behind Pakistans victory and then gloating about it. And you call yourself a true cricket fan. Then You chose to come onto England V South Africa forums and post yet more rubbish. Once again hiding behind the victory of another team and then gloating about it. But when India had a chance they blew it 4-0 in England and then they blew it 1-2 in India.Time for you to stop gloating. As ye shall sow, so shall ye reep. Call it payback.

so "England in India Test Series,2012 " is much worse than "2007 World Cup".
Dhoni should step down now as captain.
Indian cricket Team should now find a new captain for leading the Indian cricket team to victories.
Now Dhoni should be removed from Indian cricket team captancy for one day,T20,and test series.
India should find a new captain for one day,T20,and test series.
Dhoni can still continue as the captain for "chennai super kings" for another 10 years.
Indian cricket Team should find a new captain now for leading the Indian cricket team to victories.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 11:20 GMT

so totally Indian team failed completely in batting and bowling in 6 innings in the 2nd Test,3rd Test and 4th Test.
so in the 2007 world cup India lost 2 matches out of the 3 matches,but here England in India Test Series,India failed in 6 innings.
so failing in 6 innings continously in "England in India Test Series" is much worse than failing in just 2 mathches in "2007 World Cup".
Also Indian team is loosing a test series to England in India after 28 years.
This was England's first series win in India after 1984-85.
so loosing a test series in India after 28 years is much worse than loosing 2 matches in "2007 world cup".
world cup will come every 4 years,but a defeat in homeland after 28 years is much worse.
so I think Dhoni's comments "'Not worse than 2007 World Cup" is not correct.
It should be like "2007 World Cup" is much better than this "England in India Test Series, 2012".
or "England in India Test Series,2012" is much worse than "2007 World Cup".

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 11:19 GMT

In "2007 world cup" India lost 2 matches out of the 3 matches,in the first round itself,so India team was unable to go to the next round i.e second round.
But now in the England in India Test Series-2012, the India Indian team failed completely in batting and bowling in 6 innings in the 2nd Test,3rd Test and 4th Test.

2nd Test: India v England at Mumbai - Nov 23-26, 2012
India 327 and 142; England 413 and 58/0
England won by 10 wickets, Indian team failed to do well in batting and bowling in the first and second innings in 2nd Test.

3rd Test: India v England at Kolkata - Dec 5-9, 2012
India 316 and 247; England 523 and 41/3
England won by 7 wickets,Indian team failed to do well in batting and bowling in the first and second innings in 3rd Test.

4th Test: India v England at Nagpur - Dec 13-17, 2012
England 330 and 352/4d; India 326/9d
Match drawn,Indian team failed to do well in batting and bowling in the first and second innings in 4th Test.

POSTED BY
mononz
on | December 18, 2012, 10:32 GMT

Dhoni reckons Chawla can't be judged from his one performance because it wasn't a good wicket for him to bowl on... Why was he selected then?! Did Dhoni even look at the pitch or was it just that his go to answer to his bowlers' inability to take 20 wickets was to select more spinners?

POSTED BY
jb633
on | December 18, 2012, 10:23 GMT

To try and give a balanced view of where England sit at present we are definitley not the no 1 side in world cricket. Altough I am no fan of SA cricket I will hold my hand up and say they deserve their ranking at the present time. In world cricket there has been no such thing as a dominant side sice Australia lost the golden boys in 07. Anyone can beat anyone at present and no series is a forgone conclusion. I would not be suprised to see India wallop Aus in the home series as Aus do not possess any world class spinners and have a batting line up that is more suited to facing seam.
Following the 2010 series with Pakistan I think the rapidity with which they regrouped and built a solid test team really suprised England. England took Pakistan too lightly and were duly punished. pIf you compare the Ashes prep to the prep for the UAE series they are worlds apart. I think India took England lightly in this series and paid the penalty for it. Anyone can beat anyone at present.

POSTED BY
recycle-bin-is-empty
on | December 18, 2012, 10:17 GMT

Now would be the perfect time to bring new young players into the team. Tiwary, Rahane, Pujara, Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan would be my first 5 pick, not necessarily in the same order. All are very young, talented, very good fielders and all are very positive. I always believe body language says a lot about the confidence of players. Dhoni would be player at no 6, i believe he is still the best captain we have available. No 7 can go to Raina (his style of playing would suit him here more), also Raina is an exceptional fielder. All these players are very agile and good fielders. Now comes the harder part to look for the bowlers. Spin has always been our strong point but i have now very little faith left in Ashwin. He still can be picked at the place of Raina though. But he SHOULD NOT be used as the main spinner, not even the second spinner. Aaron, Yadav and Ojha will be my other players for the bottom spots. Time to say goodbye to the rest of the current players.

POSTED BY
baghels.a
on | December 18, 2012, 10:13 GMT

Sad but true fact is that majority of the Indian fans shorter formats of the game matter more, yes test defeats hurts and we will like Indian team to win in all formats but losses in shorter formats hurt more.What i have just stated will raise the heckles of purists in India and abroad but truth cannot be denied.Apart from England and Australia shorter formats dominate and South Africa even shelved boxing day test match to arrange three t-20 matches.We Indians don't have to feel apologetic about our love for shorter formats but just try harder to strive for excellence in test cricket !! As for IPL atleast gives indian domestic players a chance to bask in limelight .English pride themselves as custodians of test cricket but has it helped the popularity of Cricket in England where Football is the most dominant sport by a massive distance, infact i can bet you in England people below age of 35 would struggle to tell who Cook is but will know all about Wayne Rooney's exact goal tally !!

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 10:03 GMT

I would like to question one thing.Gambhir plays very nicely,he is unbeatable almost when he captains the side at IPL.Again he plays brilliantly during the series with NEW ZEALAND where he as expected captains the side.As soon as series got over and MS captained the side,he failed to cross fifty.IS captaincy so much important for a player to perform well or is there any personal rivalry with MS?You all might be wondering why am i saying this.The reason is that it's because of this attitude that a team is loosing all the series.The persons who are questioning Dhoni should question Gambhir too.In case any personal rivalry is found,he should be kicked off the team.Nothing is bigger than the fact that you are playing for your country,even not captaincy.People like Manoj Tiwari are dying to play for the country and people,very respected though are just sharpening their rivalry in the team.Playing with our sentiments are they who calls themselves 'GENTLEMAN'.harse people

POSTED BY
recycle-bin-is-empty
on | December 18, 2012, 10:00 GMT

It just becomes difficult sometimes to even fathom what you are seeing. And what I see right now is, I am afraid, that current players in Indian team barring Kohli and Pujara are not one bit interested in test cricket. Their body language says it all, whenever they are batting or fielding. It started last year in West Indies, when in their last match India refused to chase a gettable total and both the teams agreed to call off the play!!

People here are saying we are going through a transition period!! While that is true but, BUT, that is not the reason why we lost this series. "going through a transition" does not cover any fact that Ashwin was totally ineffective (and he has been a very below average bowler throughout his test career so far). He is more effective as a batsmen though. Piyush Chawla ?? really ?? this guy has astonishing stats for him to be even an international test player.

POSTED BY
RISHI2016
on | December 18, 2012, 9:52 GMT

wat is mr dhoni speaking ... case one "Scoring runs in domestic cricket is not a certain sign...." is it for ajinkya...??... again another line "It's very difficult if you assess a youngster based on one performance," he adds a word called youngster and means to say harbhajan can be dropped based on one performance...Dhoni please get a life...

POSTED BY
VishalPathak
on | December 18, 2012, 9:49 GMT

MSD made India proud since he has taken over the captaincy. Be it world cup 2007 t20 or India reaching number1 slot in tests or winning ODI world cup in 2011. The expectations are ever increasing and when the team loses, it impacts the adrenaline of every Indian cricket fan. We should ask people who act as cricket experts on tv shows or otherwise in media. Have they done enough to tell Dhoni what to do or where to place the fielders or select Jadeja over Yuvraj etc.? I can understand if Ganguly or Kapil Dev or Gavaskar say something, incidentally people like Nikhil Chopra, Majoj Prabhakar, Chetan Sharma are cricket experts and I don't think so they have achieved anything big in cricket as against Dhoni. Almost entire India is like a selector or coach. We have views and can express ourselves but we should not criticize (when team is doing bad) & praise (when team is doing good) All the best India, and hope you defeat Australia when they are in India for tests. Jai Hind : )

POSTED BY
Hifni
on | December 18, 2012, 9:46 GMT

@rsrinath Well India could not win a 50 over WC outside their home!

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 9:34 GMT

Very poor excuse from Dhoni comparing a test loss with a World Cup loss. Insulting to test cricket and fans of test cricket. It also shows where his priorities are. Give test captaincy to someone who values it and let Dhoni play ODIs and T20s. Indians need to make bold decisions if they want to become No.1 Test Team again.

POSTED BY
bhrangi
on | December 18, 2012, 9:30 GMT

@Shan156 : I already mentioned in my comment that IN FORM VVS and Rahul dravid,As every English batsmen flintoff is vulnerable in india for Kumble and Harbajan spins check the stats here. yeah VVS wont hit centuries but he has temperament and will stand and give mental support to the batsman same with the RD. When there is no wicket fall , bowlers lose their temper and bowl easy balls like our ojha and Ashwin, this is what Cook and trott did look at the averages if you want.,,We are taking about the retirement / form iin last 5 months but you are talking about some 30 years back.,..

POSTED BY
9ST9
on | December 18, 2012, 8:56 GMT

@rsrinath - That's not relevant here - you are just like Dhoni. India messed up the test series big time.period.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 8:39 GMT

Dhoni should be dropped from the Test & T20 team, bring Saha as Wicket Keeper, Captain, in present condition, we have no other option other than Kohli or Ashwin(best test allrounder), let Gambhir rest and bring Rahane in place of him.

POSTED BY
a1234s
on | December 18, 2012, 8:28 GMT

Dhoni needs to step down as captain. The team is too young and needs Sachin's experience.
Have him in the team for around an year more, let the young players get a feel of international cricket. He can become the nucleus of the team for the next 12 months.
Right now, BCCI needs to focus on making sure Kohli, Rahane, Sharma and Pujara are properly groomed.

POSTED BY
rsrinath
on | December 18, 2012, 8:07 GMT

well we are the world cup champions!! who cares about all these things.....a kind reminder to all those 'over the moon england supporters'- it was not long before that you guys suffered a thorough humiliation from SA in your own backyard...try to win an ODI WC but more importantly before that try to field 11 'english' players...... then you ppl can talk..... we will show who the real boss is in the ODI series....

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 8:07 GMT

@158notout-

Not a bad side save a few exceptions. I think that is going a bit too far with the changes- Sehwag and Gambhir can still offer something to Indian cricket. If Dhoni is not captain his keeping is not good enough to retain him as WK. And neither Raina and Jadeja are test class. I am not sure about Kohli as captain, far too inexperienced, even as a captain at junior levels- Pujara has led A teams and for me is a stronger candidate if anything. Still Id go for Gambhir despite his lack of form of late, due to seniority and experience alone really.

Congratulations to England and i hope that this win by them will do something good for Indian cricket just like the invention of cricket by England did lot of good for India. I would have liked to see England winning this series 3-1 and thought they were also playing to save the nagpur test. Australians would not be contented with 2-1 win margin but would have gone for 3-1 or even 4-0 win margins which may happen when they play in India in Feb 2013. So England has to remove the desire to be satisfied with small victory margin, be ruthless and merciless like the Australians yet keeping intact the spirit of the game. If India keep on losing test series at home then one day BCCI may come out with a proposal that India will only play 50 overs and 20 over versions. The current team players and young Indian generation will also support that -add to it the poor attendance at test match venue.

POSTED BY
158notout
on | December 18, 2012, 7:40 GMT

I am an England fan but I like to follow domestic cricket from around the world, including India. I am interested to see what some of the Indian fans on here would think of this as a near future Indian Test team:

With Varun Aaron to come in for Ishant when he is fit again and Ojha as an option for two spinners at home/on sub-con pitches. I think if Raina can sort his problem with the short pitched ball he is a good option for middle order bat as he is good in the field (and Indian really need that) and he can send down a few overs when only playing one spinner.

POSTED BY
chennaisixers001
on | December 18, 2012, 7:39 GMT

Mr.Mahendra Singh dhoni 2007 world cup loss happened before 5 years and i didn't know why the hell you compare it with a test series loss in home.I know you have ran out of excuses and you say world cup loss in 2007 hurt you more.As a captain after losing a series in home you must think about weaknesses in team and instead you are trying to divert everyone by talking about a world cup loss which has nothing to do with the current situation.Dont blame the pitch and conditions for loss a good team plays in all kinds of pitches.you are unfit to be a captain or even as a player in test team.picking piyush chawla instead of awana is a mistake and you are not accepting it.

POSTED BY
memoriesofthepast
on | December 18, 2012, 7:29 GMT

Dhoni gives more importance to 50 over game loss abroad than a test series lost at home. This is wrong approach from the experienced Dhoni. A captain should have goals and should prioritize correctly the matches to be won. It is test matches that matter on a tour. Preventing a test series loss at home is high high above winning a 50 over game abroad. Never lose a series at home should be the first approach and for that if it requires sacking of foreign coaches like Fletcher go for it. 1983 WC winning team or the Indian teams that won 1971 serieses of Eng and WI and even 1986 Eng tour, had no coach. When u start losing at home, fans at home may stop buying tickets or paying to TV telecasts to see u losing at home. Dhoni has to be removed from test captaincy immediately.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 7:28 GMT

Okay so now he's shamelessly hanging around and waiting for a WC 2007 like disaster to happen before he gets kicked out by the selectors.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 6:59 GMT

For cook its as good as ashes win if not better than that.For Dhoni,he is still in hangover of the 2007 wc loss.Thats goes on to show how serious is he about playing test matches,forget about captaining the side.
With this kind of attitude from the captain of any side,you cant expect to win even against minnows.Dhone lost the series in his mind even before it began.Hes not keen to play/win test matches.Still if hes continued as captain of the test team,god also cant help the indian test team.Its high time,he is relived of not just test captaincy,but also as a member of test team.Let talent prevail and not past laurels in other formats of the game.
Rahul dravid quit test captaincy after winning series against england in england on a hight note.That is his value for the game.Here you have a captain,who is not even bothered about the loss and talks lightly about the loss(es) ,not just matches white washes series after series and still continues to captain the side,thanks to BCCI:-(

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 18, 2012, 6:33 GMT

@Hash_Tag: In your haste to somehow counter my then comment you have again reminded me of your own team's horrible loss vs SA. You did not say anything then and you did not say anything even here. Alright, let me ask you again...What happened to the then #1 team of the world that was supposed to be #1 for 5-8-10 years as per Ian Botham and others? Pls share your thoughts. You were #1 and lost AT HOME. This is by all means a much worse performance than India's 1-2 loss cos Eng were ranked higher. Eng had lost 0-2 while Ind lost 1-2. If you know any basic maths then you would know that 0-2 is much worse than 1-2. And btw, the ODI and T20 losses were more due to the rains than anything else but I anyways admit that Ind have been a poor team for 15-18 months now. That said, the moment Eng were out of their nest, they lost 0-3 to Pak, 0-5 to Ind and were 80 a.o. in the WT20 over a period of time ... HA HA...what you gonna say for that? See, I remember it too...better than you....HA HA HA.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 6:32 GMT

Does Indian Cricket Board have any passion for test match cricket? When will India play their next test match? The only focus of the players and board is money, ads and glamour. This is a serious insult to the game of cricket. Dhoni is a third grade wicket keeper and a ridiculous batsman. He should be dropped. Sachin should be given another chance.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 6:18 GMT

Yeah Dhoni, at least this is true....how can 10 losses in test matches can be compared with 2 ODI defeats......absolutely correct, its not as bas its WORSE dan nething Inidan public has ever seen....now only if they can change the whole BCCI including the president for the same

POSTED BY
Captain_Crick
on | December 18, 2012, 6:16 GMT

"Dhoni said the batting and pace bowling was the difference between the two sides in this series. " The difference between the two sides were (to name a few) - batting (application, running between the wickets, patience, technique, better keeper and lower order batting) spin bowling (quality and accuracy), fast bowling (quality, reverse swing, better backup options), fielding (quality, agility), leadership (team selection, goal, fielding positions, declaration timing, strategy), coach and support staff (ownership, accountability, talent spotting - Root's case) and most importantly acknowledgement of past failures like UAE by ECB and to learn from previous mistakes. "The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself" - Sun Tzu

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 5:58 GMT

Mr. Dhoni you were a good ODI and T20 player and it is true that under your captaincy we won our two world cups but you were never a good test player then how come you comments on a legend Rahul Dravid by saying this defeat is not bad as World cup 2007 loss.

You are Captain of Indian cricket team and if India loose a match then take the blame on you. We believe day by day your comments are becoming worse and no one can deny that you never wanted senior players in your team.

Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumle and Saurav Ganguly are legends and you are not even qualified to comment on them.

POSTED BY
CricketnCricket
on | December 18, 2012, 5:58 GMT

Oh really..!! So U say that U r a better captain than Dravid. Rite? Answer these questions if U can. In 2007 WC Dravid never had full support from his team, coz U knew the politics during Greg Chappell era. Leaving 2007 WC we won test series in England, continuous chasing victory record 'n' many. So don't indirectly compare yourself to others tor prove yourself.

POSTED BY
EdwardTLogan
on | December 18, 2012, 5:49 GMT

Considering Australia were raging hot favourites for the 2007 CWC, one can only assume that five days in the field at Nagpur has made Dhoni delusional.

POSTED BY
jmcilhinney
on | December 18, 2012, 5:44 GMT

@bhrangi on (December 18 2012, 04:26 AM GMT), not so much Dravid but wasn't everyone clamouring for Laxman to retire when he did? Maybe it was just a vocal minority but, if so, they were very vocal. It seems like India were missing an in-form Laxman for some time before he retired.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 5:39 GMT

Dhoni is trying to divert from the real problems, as ever. He is comparing lemon with Apples here. 2007 WC loss was in ODI cricket: the topic here is test cricket! Either he doesn't get it altogether, or he is diverting attention intentionally.

POSTED BY
Rahul_78
on | December 18, 2012, 5:34 GMT

Run some quries on Statsguru for this series. England has beaten Indian hands down in each and every department of the game. Surprised to know why MSD is not ready to acknowledge that his famed batting lineup is failing to score 400+ score which is imperative to do well in tests consistently in home and away conditions. Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli have been very inconsistent. Lets not even mention Sachin here. And MSD himself has been meager in terms of run scoring. Bowlers also failed collectively. May be this is what is needed to wake up the Indian cricket from its slumber. Time to build the team from the scratch. No one will be surprised if Aussies also do very well in forthcoming series. They may not be having quality spinners but with Clarke and Hussey their batting has class and their fast bowling has all the variety and ammunition to test the brittle Indian batsmen who are low on confidence and form.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 5:28 GMT

I guess the 2007 reference is the PR "trump card" Dhoni was saving up his sleeve. It simultaneously distracts people from 1-10 scoreline in most important form of the game, defaces dravid/ganguly etc who were in charge then in contrast to 2011 when-you-know-who was and in general reminds everyone about the saviour he is.... Maybe time for Sachin come out in open about what he feels about Dhoni era. Sachin maybe less effective as a batsman now but truly important in politics.

POSTED BY
flavoidastic
on | December 18, 2012, 5:27 GMT

Another gimmick by Dhoni to save his captaincy and thus his place in test team..He wants to highlight that he won the World cup which other captains can not do..Even in the 2011 World Cup final he promoted himself ahead of in form Yuvraj..Luckily he was able to score and win the man of the match award (for which Gambhir was a slightly better contender)..He seems to take decisions which suit him best and not the team..

POSTED BY
westindian_fan
on | December 18, 2012, 5:27 GMT

What rubbish! It's such an irresponsible comment! Mr. Dhoni, just refresh your memory, and you'll know that we lost World Cup 2007 because none of our team members performed. Except Dravid, the captain. But then, Dravid took ownership and quit captaincy. He became a scapegoat of all your collective failure.

Today, you alongside Srinivasan is spoiling not just Indian cricket, but world cricket, as a whole. And then you're pointing fingers. This is what happens when worthless people get what they don't deserve.

POSTED BY
ListenToMe
on | December 18, 2012, 5:19 GMT

Don't worry Dhoni, since you are still saying this is not the worst, you will definitely see the worst if you lead the team next time. You will have to accept the truth that you are the worst test captain India ever had.

POSTED BY
getsetgopk
on | December 18, 2012, 5:10 GMT

Throw in the white towel, call it a day and save yourself from this relentless humiliation India. You have proved your potential to the fullest of all round mediocrity. 1.4 billion mouths constantly blabbering with nothing to show for, media hype of below par cricketers, insulting cricket itself with pathetic pitches and taunting curators for not delivering a 'winning' pitch, the barrage of excuses and not being good sports, the lack of DRS in modern day cricket. Enough of that please. Leave this scene, no shame in not being good at something, maybe cricket is not meant for you, which ironically, is the only sport you people 'think' you are good at. Forget about Pakistan whitewashing England, a small island nation of Sri Lanka are toughening it out with Auss on their soil as we speak, a far more formidable adversary than they get credit for. The 5 teams that deserve to be playing cricket right now are Pak, Auss, Eng, SL and SA, the rest is just a waste of time. Congrats Eng!!!

POSTED BY
Naikan
on | December 18, 2012, 4:58 GMT

With all the greats of the last decade having all but retired (SRT and Sehwag also almost there now), the results of the last one year are not a surprise.
Well, Dhoni basked in the glory of being number one test team, a result which was based on years of work by his predecessors. Now a quick fall to the bottom of the list will hopefully clear it in his mind that if he really wants to reclaim that number one, he needs to first acknowledge that what he had was not based on his efforts and then go on to build a team that is not based on sycophancy but on well researched merit of the players across the country.

POSTED BY
Naikan
on | December 18, 2012, 4:46 GMT

I remember when Wadekar's team returned from a 3-0 whitewash in England in 1974, some players actually experienced public voilence and I believe a 1971 victory memorial bat in Indore was also defaced.
Wadekar lost his captainship and several players lost their test caps. That happened in spite of the fact that Wadekar had won the first ever series victories in West Indies and England just 2-3 years earlier and even beaten England again at home a year earlier.
Now we have suffered 3 series losses in a year - two of which were washouts to teams which are not really comparable to the team we lost against in 1974. Yet there is such a nonchalant statement coming through and hardly any outbursts from the establishment demanding change.
It truly is the death of Test cricket as we know it - for these losses do not matter at all. Maybe next Dhoni will compare it to Chennai's loss in the IPL final and say it was not as bad as that IPL loss!

POSTED BY
Shan156
on | December 18, 2012, 4:41 GMT

@bhrangi, Boycott, Botham, and Willis did not tour India after 1981-1982, Gower not after the 1984-1985 win. Gooch did in 1992-1993 but that was one of the weakest England teams in living memory. Same with Flintoff, he didn't arrive with the best of sides in 2001-2002 when England dominated two out of the three tests after winning the first, and was good enough to draw the series in 2005-2006 with a depleted team after the unexpected injuries to Vaughan, Tres, and SiJo. It took a Sehwag and Sachin masterclass to propel India to victory in 2008-2009. The point is England may or may not have won with their best ever team against India with their best ever team. To say that India with Dravid and VVS would have smashed England is inane. For starters, VVS has poor stats against England and Dravid's stats against England at home is not that great as his away stats. These 2 were there in Aus when India got whipped 0-4. Even if they were there, England would have planned accordingly.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 4:36 GMT

Hello Mr Dhoni, i dont know why you are talking about 2007 world cup, might be you are much worried about your Captancy rather than country.
Go back and check you scores in the 2007 world cup, India played only two matches in the 2007 world cup and you have scored two beautiful DUCKS in that two innings, which include one Golden duck in must win game against Srilanka.. You can stop thinking more about ur adds and captaincy and starting focusing on your footwork and batting which will help our country..

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 4:35 GMT

Why Dhoni is still remains as Captain, he is a better politician, only statements, nothing in practice, he speaks abt backing youngsters, why Rahane has not given a single chance so far, why he is blindly supporting Piyush Chawla & Jadeja, only favouristm rules in Dhoni's mind, if he is removed from the Captaincy, he should not be in the team to ensure the unity

POSTED BY
TJAPUKAI
on | December 18, 2012, 4:32 GMT

What Dhoni trying to say is that he is better than Dravid interms of captaincy and asking the Wall and Dada to not give any comments. I ask both of them to come out and blast Dhoni.Let the war of words begin.I am also searching for Mr. Srinivisan who was bragging about the greatest Indian team in home soil.

POSTED BY
bhrangi
on | December 18, 2012, 4:26 GMT

@Shan156 : It was 28 years gap.,, the name you mentioned was there in Eng team during that time. It was cook confidence and temperament along with Panesar who achieved that. But We miss VVS and RD , no ifs and Buts but no one can deny that Ind is missing in form VVS and RD. They are match winners/ savers for us in India as well as in overseas and they proved that in past.

POSTED BY
bkarur
on | December 18, 2012, 4:23 GMT

Seriously wondering what runs in Dhoni's mind these days. Its time for him to kick off his shoes and hang it from Test Cricket. India definitely needs a aggressive man to go forward and lead the Test Team. Dhoni, please go back to your home, finish the house warming of your new farm house, spend good quality time with your wife and then return back to One Day team. That would be better in the interest of Indian Cricket.

POSTED BY
Jaggadaaku
on | December 18, 2012, 4:19 GMT

We all will see Sachin Tendulkar in the next world cup too because he is FEVICOL's brand ambassador.

POSTED BY
Dravid_Pujara_Gravitas
on | December 18, 2012, 4:07 GMT

This should be India's core group going forward - Pujara, Rahane, Kohli, Karthik/Saha, Ojha, Ashwin and Yadav. Sehwag and Gambhir should be put on notice. Honest youngsters should be roped in if Sehwag and Gambhir fail in the next series. There is no dearth of talent in India just as there is no dearth of greedy elephants and politicians. Shame on BCCI for interfering in selection matters. Shame on the elephants to stay in the team like leeches with the help of their connections with the powers in BCCI. Shame shame puppy shame! If India gives another chance to Statchin and Dhoni, then I would want Australia to thrash us, so that BCCI and the elephants will have eggs on their faces.

POSTED BY
rag_b123
on | December 18, 2012, 4:06 GMT

we need a coach who cam motivate batsmen and help bowlers excel especially spinners, shane warne would make an excellent coach for team india in the current situation

POSTED BY
Suresh2012Dec31
on | December 18, 2012, 4:05 GMT

It was so disappointing on Dhoni words after loosing the Home Test Series. You cannot compare Test Series with ODI/T20 Series (2007 World Cup). Both are different game formats and happened in different countries, different players,with different conditions. Its stupidity to compare with World Cup. He just want to hide the things. I am so sorry for Dhoni CANNOT fit for Indian Test Captain. fit only ODI/T20 Captain thats why you are comparing with world cup. But the selectors should strongly take a decision on the Test Captaincy. I would say Seperate captain is necessary for Indian Test Cricket. Who should have patience to play long innings (Like Cook took care of his team). Sehwag, Sachin, Dhoni should be sacked. Sehwag plays 1 match and fails 20 matches. Is it required for Test matches? There are so many players in India have better consistency. Sachin should announce volunterily his retirement.Dhoni should resign as Test Captaincy. Ashwin/ Kohli should be given Test Captaincy.

POSTED BY
Dravid_Pujara_Gravitas
on | December 18, 2012, 3:53 GMT

The personnel that need to be shown the door are Statchin, Dhoni, Fletcher and John Dawes with immediate effect. Things will fall in place immediately. There simply is no space for deadweights like Fletcher, John Dawes and Statchin. Dinesh Karthik or Saha in Dhoni's place, Rahane for Statchin. Sehwag and Gambhir have to be put on notice that they will be retained IF AND ONLY IF they do well in the next series. Otherwise, it's time to move on. Let's replace them and let's not mind if we lose without them. At least we will be preparing for the future instead of carrying these deadweights on our money. Regarding Dhoni's opinion that this isn't anywhere close to the losses in WC2007 - Shutup Dhoni if you have any shame left.

POSTED BY
Jeyramya
on | December 18, 2012, 3:47 GMT

Dhoni strategy is not working anymore, His luck is not working..., he need to take some rest from test cricket. In the mean time India can try out new captain

POSTED BY
Siva-The-Human
on | December 18, 2012, 3:44 GMT

Why is everyone saying that a batsman should be a captain?. Why not a bowler?.
It is right time to make Ashwin should be a test captain. He has leadership quality and he has how to build patnership while struggling india in batting and he is a bowler.

POSTED BY
jimbond
on | December 18, 2012, 3:44 GMT

What Dhoni really meant, was that- 'this loss is nothing- just see this team play under me for the next two series, and you would know how much worse it could be'

POSTED BY
Mitcher
on | December 18, 2012, 3:43 GMT

@Cpt.Meanster: If your interest in test cricket is so minimal why are you on here so constantly mouthing off about this and that? It's okay to let people know you care mate. You're going to get through this! I believe in you!

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | December 18, 2012, 3:41 GMT

I wonder now what Excuse Dhoni came up with..In T20 it was Rain excuse,I think he should write a book on excuses after such a humiliating loss..After England tour he said that we would prepare Spin wickets for England just like England did prepare Seaming Wickets aka Indian Batsmen suicide..But everything backfired.All that big talk went down the drain.Dhoni..next time think for a moment what you are gonna say next.It might save you from further humiliation in future which i doubt

POSTED BY
bMike
on | December 18, 2012, 3:37 GMT

It's is not a surprise to see how flat track bullies sank in the deep mud. Teams like Zimbabwe should have regular visits to home track bullies' backyard in order to take them out of the mud.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 3:33 GMT

It is high time that Tendulkar should pave the way for a youngster and contribute to Indian Cricket with his experience and expertise. There is nothing more to achieve for him. He should leave cricket with dignity ...

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 3:33 GMT

Just for once accept England played better and won. Cook was the main difference.

POSTED BY
CricketLifer
on | December 18, 2012, 3:31 GMT

It would have been good to see a thorough and serious self analysis. Instead, we get "not as bad" from the captain, "our bowlers are improving" from bowling coach despite the fact that the bowlers have had hard time taking wickets, nary a word from the coach. Acknowledging a problem is basic step towards fixing it but from the behavior exhibited, this is sorely lacking. It seems that India is not serious about Test cricket. This is one way to avoid fixing the one department that has hid its shortcomings well - bowling. In tests, one has to take 20 wickets to win - not the case in limited over formats. Pace bowling has always been India's achilles heel. Almost every team in the world has 2-3 great strike bowlers and 2-3 great replacements. India can't even find a spinner these days!

POSTED BY
Romenevans
on | December 18, 2012, 3:29 GMT

If there is the biggest excuse pillar in the world, it has to be DHONI!

POSTED BY
KiranShiva
on | December 18, 2012, 3:26 GMT

Dhoni is a good captain. The fear of loss got in to his mind and made him very defensive in last couple of years. Even we can see that in his batting. Just few occasions in last two years he played like the aggressive batsman we knew. Ganguly..he was always aggressive with his captaincy and tactics even when he is struggling with his batting. A good captain always should earn respect from teammates which went terribly wrong with Dhoni when he cririsized Sehwag/Gambhir publicly. What ever diffrences Ganguly had with Dravid/Sachin/Laxman it never came out. Such is the Gentlemanship of those guys. I heard Ganguly told team mates that he is going to quit captaincy when they told him that they were disappointed with his captaincy as a part of prank played in dressing room. And I am sure Ganguly never made negative comments/demands like Dhoni on team/pitch etc. A good captain will never get himself pressurised by revealing tactics before media (just as Dhoni did with the rank turners).

Come on folks. Be with spine. A loss is a loss if it happens without fight.. And this loss happened without any fight whatsoever. Someone stand up and put your hands for the loss. 8-0 was brushed aside as ALIEN conditions without accepting the fact that we were not even competitive. Now, You are trying to brush aside 2-1 in home saying it "Not as bad as 2007 WC exit".. If you are not capable of taking right decisions, don't make yourself available in those slots to make a decision. Be a normal player and stay away from the process. Let someone who is responsible come there and take it by throat.

POSTED BY
9ST9
on | December 18, 2012, 3:15 GMT

It is very funny to see the responses from the Indian fans,some of them who were boasting about their team and belittling their opponents during the last year or so - but reading the responses of some Indian fans who were honest in accepting their failure my perception of the typical Indian fan has changed a bit.
But of course the BCCI wouldn't care would they? They'd be more concerned if some franchise pulled out of the IPL.

POSTED BY
juvenileindia
on | December 18, 2012, 3:11 GMT

@Stalwart07: How stupid to compare Test and ODIs/T20s? No one is complaining about shorter format here. Regaining winning form in Test cricket is the only solution to erase these bad memories of loss. Winning in Shorter format is not an answer here. If anyone think it is then the person is blind sighted rather than foresighted.
Dhoni has screwed up Test Cricket for sure. He is not serious about Test cricket. Just before Lord's Test cricket, he had said Test cricket would die in 2 years. He have referred to Indian Test cricket. Indian Test Cricket is in ICU. Dhoni is not even worthy of a place in Test Cricket. Playing in subcontinental pitches does not make him worthy of a place.

POSTED BY
TiwariIndia
on | December 18, 2012, 3:05 GMT

This is heights.! It is quite evident now that this guy will not quit and will take Team India to further downfalls. This is third time Dhoni comparing his defeats to 2007 WC. Why doesn't he accept the mistakes and work on those? You can't improve until you don't want to. This is high time now that Indian cricket should get rid of MSD and Mr. N Srinivasan who has been backing him up for so long... Ashamed of a team who is led by such an arrogant leader.

POSTED BY
the_blaster
on | December 18, 2012, 3:04 GMT

Unbelievable!
It clearly shows Dhon's and the BCCI's mindset - ODI's (and T20's of course) matter more than tests.

It seems this man no longer has the heart or stomach to be the test captain if he isn't totally gutted over the consistent spanking Inda have been receiving over the last couple of years in Test matches

Given India's financial dominance in cricket, this could be the beginning of the end for test cricket.

POSTED BY
Naikan
on | December 18, 2012, 2:58 GMT

I like Dhoni as a captain, but I feel he needs to step down from the test captaincy. The pressure is getting to him else, how can he compare a year of failure in test cricket spread across 10-11 matches to a world cup campaign that was across only 3 matches. Yes that is right - all we needed was to lose one match to Bangladesh to get knocked out in that 2007 WC (we lost to Sirlanka also - but they were good team also at that time). After 2007 we bounced back within a year or so and won a test series in England, which was a rare feat in itself. As compared to that we are now facing a situation where our team is running out of answers and has literally been losing every test match for an year, bar a couple at home. While in our current team we can see a few good batsmen, there are hardly any good test class bowlers (they may be good enough for the shorter version).
If Dhoni wants to remain a captain he needs to face up to reality to be able to find answers.

POSTED BY
Jahid.bdraj
on | December 18, 2012, 2:58 GMT

India is beaten as they should be. They thought they were the best team ever on this earth. They were indifferent to their own weakness and shortcomings but they (esp. Shewag who was bowled shamelessly) never forget to ridicule others. In fact, India is better in playing outside the fields like in front of microphones. India should play more with the teams like Canada, Ireland to improve their skill. In fact, England is all the way superior to India.
Even India didn't play their spinners in the practice matches with England in the speculation that England could know the techniques of the Indian Spinners. This is the proof how India suffers from superiority complex and faces its doom.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 2:54 GMT

Ok Dhoni We agree with you that it is not worse than 2007 WC You compared well,but to which WC you will compare the Whitewash In England & Australia. Don't make excuse for your poor performance just leave Indian team.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 2:50 GMT

As a criket fan of Sri Lanka I am very dissapointed abnout all the comments posted against the team India. everybody pointing fingers towards Dhoni,SRT,Yuvraj,Sehwag....... Ya the did failed in this series. But they were members of a World cup winning team. it is very harsh on them. We als o love cricket very much and follows our team very closely. according to my knowledge those comments won't encourage them. come on guys they are your heroes help them to get strong and funish ENG in coming ODIs.

POSTED BY
FulltossBouncer
on | December 18, 2012, 2:50 GMT

MS Dhoni sums up India's slide after winning the world cup. The captain is still in denial mode, and that is reflecting in Team India's attitude.

If we had known winning the World Cup at home would lead to these circumstances, we wouldn't have broken that 'home jinx' for World cups.

POSTED BY
MDso
on | December 18, 2012, 2:37 GMT

What a silly comparison to the 2007 World cup. This series defeat is the worst India had for ages, and as the captain of the team, Dhoni should take responsibility for this as much as he takes credit when the team wins. I do think the first T20 world cup win was a fluke, and won more by the team and not the captaincy. Dhoni wanted the seniors out of the team and now projecting that as the reason for defeat. So sick. Grow up. BTW isn't there a conflict of interest in Srinivasan, owning the CSK and heading the BCCI? Obviously retaining Dhoni as the captain. benefits CSK and its sponsors, is this so difficult to understand? I guess it is time for Srinivasan and Dhoni to resign.

POSTED BY
jmcilhinney
on | December 18, 2012, 2:13 GMT

I guess Dhoni just confirmed that Indian cricket cares more about limited-overs cricket than they do Test cricket. Apparently losing 2 out of 3 games in a WC is a bigger disaster than two 0-4 whitewashes away and then losing the revenge series at home. I guarantee you that if England or Australia had just been pummelled twice away and were told that the price of winning the next home series against one of those opponents was a first round exit in the next WC, they'd both pay it gladly.

POSTED BY
Gloryof96
on | December 18, 2012, 2:09 GMT

If anyone tells me that India cant find 15 players from a 1.2 billion population is unacceptable. BCCI must do whatever necessary to get the job done and this time they should remember money cant buy talent except corrupt whatever talent is available!

POSTED BY
Seanny
on | December 18, 2012, 2:02 GMT

this is shameful, y is he comparing, where does the question of comparison came from, (if he's trying to demean or defame dravid, then he's lost it, big time), proves he's just a skipper or a manager, nt a leader, his early success was on the account of the legendary mid-order, reminds me of a say that goes as "a lion can lead 100 donkeys, but, a donkey can't lead 100 lions.."

POSTED BY
challagalla
on | December 18, 2012, 1:52 GMT

Yes India is in transition. So are Australia and Pakistan and yet did not lose 10 tests this year or suffer 4-0 whitewashes. Transition is no excuse. Lets accept it was poor selection, poor captaincy, awful fielding and simply put terrible batting and bowling at times. We won the toss at Mumbai and Kolkata and yet lost. We put on 300 plus at Mumbai and could not bowl the Brits out. Lets accept we were outplayed in every facet of this great game and that simply is it.

POSTED BY
Cric2
on | December 18, 2012, 1:42 GMT

The headline says it all, what a pitiable excuse. Diverting attention to a supposedly worse loss.

POSTED BY
AjayB
on | December 18, 2012, 1:14 GMT

@kesasam - Not all indian fans disrespect other cricketing nations. True cricket lovers respect every cricket nation and every siginificant achievement. I have utmost respect for Mahela for his statesmanship. Same way I respect South African Profressionalism. That apart, I think Dhoni needs a really solid reality check. Not really sure what he is saying, but suffice it to say he seems to have really lost it. The statement or the defense makes no sense. Time for him to go back to Ranchi - I guess.

POSTED BY
Alexk400
on | December 18, 2012, 1:13 GMT

For me Incompetent people running BCCI who pokes on Selections in order to get economical benefit for them. Selectors can select only who is available in state teams and their performance in ranji matches. I thought ICL , IPL will help unknown indians because more slots open up for talented kids. I was wrong. The filters in place to prevent that happen is deep rooted. Its now business to get into IPL team. Again real talented people will be ignored. Aussies coaches use Indian IPL to promote their potential players. And india doing same thing that they did for years. They somehow keep finding unathletic weak players. I believe main reason is lack of accountability in BCCI top brasses. It runs like private business with no TAX to pay. So politicians can convert their black money to real money. For me if india wins i won't have complaints. if india loses then things has to change in BCCI setup. Scouting agents needed to find real talents without BCCI filters.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 1:06 GMT

how can u compare a one day game with test matches? this shows that he gives priority only to one day games. he havent forgotten the loss 5 years back because it was a one day game, and 10 losses in test matches within a year, give a damn coz its a test and who cares.

POSTED BY
Harmik
on | December 18, 2012, 1:03 GMT

If Dhoni still stays as captain..we;ll see more like this..we should get used to it..

POSTED BY
Syed_imran_abbas
on | December 18, 2012, 0:54 GMT

Yeah yeah.. the only good thing about indian team use to be good batsman especially in home conditions.. but thats fading away as well.. their bowling is crap as always.. well played England..

POSTED BY
Silverbails
on | December 18, 2012, 0:40 GMT

OMG, NOW I've heard everything from Dhoni. How can he compare Tests to ODI's?? Really sad and pathetic. Perhaps we should simply play Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in India, and try and regain some of those wins at home. Sad, really sad, and time for Dhoni to go...

POSTED BY
Kumar1701
on | December 18, 2012, 0:39 GMT

I knew it will happen as soon as Duncan Fletcher is confirmed as coach. He is a bad choice since he hasn't done anything exciting when he was the England coach. Couple of years ago In the last test match in the West Indies India have to get about 80 or 90 runs to win the test,but they gave up the run chase. They could have won it easily but the coach and the captain wanted to protect the series win at all costs. When they don't believe in themselves the rot started in the team. I blame the coach and the captain. Secondly how can they go into this deciding test match with one fast bowler and 4 spinners. Thirdly Dhoni and Kholi were batting on the third day to draw the test match, not to win the test match. They should have gone for quick runs to level the series. They wasted valuable time. In my view instead of blaming Tendulkar,Shewag and Gambir, we should blame the coach, selectors and Dhon.

POSTED BY
waughjunior
on | December 18, 2012, 0:24 GMT

Time to say goodbye Sachin

POSTED BY
hellomate007
on | December 18, 2012, 0:17 GMT

What an absolute joke! WC 2007, only one game against Bangladesh caused India's early exit.Pretty sure its not the same as losing 8-0 away and 2-1 at home.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 0:17 GMT

Dhoni should stop his excuses...he is being protected by the BCCI bosses..and as we know those who govern sport and the country in India are the worst and most corrupt.I wish Tendulkar, Viru, Gambhir would be shown the door..
I am also shocked that someone I respected V.Anand is supporting Tendulkar..It makes any sense only if SRT is contributing to the team's cause...which he has not for a long time..He scores his 100th century against Bangladesh and states it is selfish to retire at the top of his game..someone give him a reality check..Dravid quit with class and dignity when he started getting clean bowled in Australia and now SRT is having that happen to him often..he has become Anderson's bunny..Can he not see the writing on the wall? it has been there for a while..At the very least, he should quit to give someone more deserving a chance to go on and become the next Dravid or SRT.
We need a new team in Tests with a new captain and youngsters.

POSTED BY
on | December 18, 2012, 0:06 GMT

Dhoni has lost his marbles ..comparing one day defeats with test defeats on home soil ...he needs to leave that captaincy and go visit a psychiatrist ...it will be good for both him and Indian test cricket

POSTED BY
Alexk400
on | December 18, 2012, 0:04 GMT

Indian fans are disappointed but they deserve the whooping given by england team. I still see some fans saying dhoni is best captain when the guy lost 10 test and even the 1 game won because of sehwag batting. Dhoni is mr excuse. He can't win simple. He wants sehwag out , gambhir out , india will lose badly because india won't have players to win without sehwag. Period. I want kohli to be captain but i think he still need to establish himself . if you give captain and he did n't score you will destroy young batsman. I think gambhir is next possible captain. If selectors keep dhoni as captain it sends wrong signals.

POSTED BY
desi1
on | December 18, 2012, 0:02 GMT

All those indians criticizing dhoni , how many of them watched the test matches. I would say not even 5% would have watched 50% or more of the game. Public in india watch One day matches more hence players are also more concerned about ODI and shorter format. Jadeja earns more than VVS Laxman would have made in his whole life.. so who would want to be la axman, every youngster wants to be a Jadeja.
Personally i would love to see india winning test matches, but if i have to pick what i want to watch, it is certainly one day or T20 .. i simply dont have enough time to watch a test match and not many have. Most of the people in my office dont know about recent test match failures but everyone knows India won world cup in 2011 and how badly it lost in 2007.

So as long as indian public does not show a genuine interest in test matches india will not produce genuine test match players

POSTED BY
EdwardTLogan
on | December 17, 2012, 23:29 GMT

Seriously, what are they rebuilding? The Great Wall of China? Dravid and Laxman wnet ages ago, as did any of their decent bowlers (Kumble and Srinath). The problem lies in Dhoni's approach as skipper, the BCCI's reliance on the IPL to earn some coin and the selector's failure to bite the bullet and get rid of those past their best. For the next Test series I'd get rid of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Sharma based on their (lack of) fielding abilities as a start. As batsmen, Tendulkar and Sehwag are past it, and Sharma would be lucky to be playing in the thirds in Sydney grade cricket. Dhoni's position as keeper, let alone captain must also be questioned. He seems to lack even the most basic skills to keep at Test level. The young spinners will need some time but there doesn't appear to be a decent fast bowler on the horizon at all.

POSTED BY
AvidCricFan
on | December 17, 2012, 23:17 GMT

No excuses or hiding behind Mr. Dhoni. Without a doubt it is a low point for the Indian test cricket of recent time. You can't compare ODI with the test cricket. Not only that India's lack of test cricket bowling and batting depth is exposed. It is clear that BCCI has taken eyes off of test cricket to promote cash cows of ODI and IPL. There needs to be drastic changes to rebuild the test team starting with removal of SRT, Viru and MSD.

POSTED BY
Quddus-Mamu
on | December 17, 2012, 23:16 GMT

I think, team India should play more test against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to get the confidence back. This test team is not strong enough to fight against England, Australia, South Africa or Sri Lanka.

POSTED BY
Shan156
on | December 17, 2012, 23:13 GMT

@Drajayk2, if only England had a fit Botham and Flintoff along with Willis, Gooch, Gower, and Boycott, we would have won 4-0. No ifs and buts buddy. You play with what we have. England won fair and square. India were simply not good enough. If it is any consolation, even the most optimistic England supporter would be surprised if we won a game or two in the T20/ODIs. Of course, any defeat would hurt but for most of us England fans, we will take this test series victory over a win or two in the LOIs.

POSTED BY
Humdingers
on | December 17, 2012, 23:11 GMT

@Mocherra - you are missing the point. Yes the team is in transition but the fact is that they are carrying players that shouldn't be there and there are players outside (on the bench even) that need to be playing. Shewag, Ghambir, SRT, Yuvraj, Kahn and especially Dhoni needs to be stripped of captaincy and even out of the Test team (although I'm not sure who else can fit in there right now). India also needs an all rounder (spinning/batting and medium/batting) - think either Irfan, Jadega or Ashwin. Basically India need to start grooming a new, young, hungry team which can play in all conditions. Not just meekly surrender and get whitewashed. Even losses are ok if you go down fighting. This current team just gives up.

POSTED BY
Cpt.Meanster
on | December 17, 2012, 23:10 GMT

@landl47: Keep acting smart. BTW, you should be having some kind of job with the government given your 'exceptional' record keeping and SEEKING skills LOL ! It's a blatant truth that nobody cares for test cricket in India. India will keep losing in test cricket unless they pull their heads out of the sand. Personally, I am a little hurt too but hey, I am happy if they keep winning in ODIs and T20s consistently cause that's where the attention truly is among Indian players. Test cricket is a relic and it should be treated as such. Nobody is taking anything away from your team, they did well to win this series. So please don't go on preaching to Indian fans to act in a certain way. Every individual is different.

POSTED BY
muralibangaru
on | December 17, 2012, 22:58 GMT

iam an indian fan disapointed the way indians played , but congrats england , definately deserve a series win for your hard work .. even though iam sachin fan i strongly think sachin should say good bye to international cricket . He has achived everything he can , its time to give way to youngstars a chance to shine .SRT please stop beeing selfish you should leave now. its ur time to go . i think most of the cricketing world ,selectors and fans knows that but no one is daring to tell that to him .

POSTED BY
Stalwart07
on | December 17, 2012, 22:58 GMT

Well Said Drajayk2. No one was in sublime form and Dhoni cannot be blamed. Even if Kohli takes up captaincy and if he loses some Test Matches, people will saying the same that they say to Dhoni and that they said to Ganguly in his final days. Our people are so short sighted.

Dhoni's team will bounce back in T20's and ODI's

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 22:46 GMT

Just one word.. DISAPPOINTING.

Indian team should have a plan and players focussed to execute the plan. It doesn't appear that we have any plan other than expecting that English batsman can't play spin.

I hope we have seen the worst and it can only get better from here.

POSTED BY
kesasam
on | December 17, 2012, 22:42 GMT

This is the best thing ever happened in cricket. I am a Sri lankan fan and I hate some of this indian fans who disrespect other cricket nations thinking India is the greatest team ever. I beaten badly at home and wait till Paksitan come there and they will do the same as well. Go on pakistan beat them as no body has done before.

POSTED BY
cheatsdontprosper
on | December 17, 2012, 22:32 GMT

Mmmmmmm Dhoni says not as bad as 2007 WC loss , I take that COMMENT as meaning he is not facing up to THE TRUTH OF THIS SERIES WAS DEFINITELY THE WORST THEY HAVE PLAYED FOR A LONG TIME, the Indian Team were only in with a chance of winning the 1st Test and they did that but after that it WAS LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER , The Indian players showed no energy or determination to fight to win the last 3 tests , they merely ROLLED OVER ( similar to England's past series when it got tough going). I don't think the Indian captain Dhoni is TOTALLY TO BLAME , the SELECTORS AND BOWLING COACHES should also shoulder some blame as should the Indian Cricket Board. From the very start India were in problems i.e NO fast seamer's (Injured bowlers),players out of form but in the team, pitches that Dhoni didn't like or did not favour the Indian spinners, TOO MUCH IPL being played maybe ? players focused on the IPL maybe because of the LARGER PAY PACKETS c. All of the above PROBLEMS MADE IT AN IMSCN33026

POSTED BY
here2rock
on | December 17, 2012, 22:31 GMT

So what is Dhoni saying would have been a disaster, 4-0?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 22:31 GMT

Dhoni has no idea what he is speaking there. He is under pressure and Duncan Fletcher is hiding. Thje problem is, it is Duncan Fletcher who should say what was plan and what went wrong. Instead, Duncan is doing nothing, sitting pretty with a fat paycheck..

POSTED BY
Sanj747
on | December 17, 2012, 22:28 GMT

Continued denial and sweeping under the carpet of many issues facing Indian cricket. This reaction is common and we have seen this from BCCI management, players, selectors etc. Can't see any of this changing. The culture does not allow facing the truth and making tough decisions.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 22:28 GMT

dhoni always blames batsmen. no partnerships and poor display. personally there is not much wrong with the batting. it was the terrible display of bowling that he should complain about. I hope the bowlers shoulder the blame. and not just batsmen

POSTED BY
h_kap
on | December 17, 2012, 22:24 GMT

How shameless and low can a person get? Just reading the news headlines says it all. two 4-0 drubbing overseas and a home series loss means nothing to this low life creature. If this does not call for his head, what will?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 22:20 GMT

What Indian team really needs is a new manager. Duncan Fletcher's India resembles old England of Duncan Fletcher. What does he contribute with anyway btw?

POSTED BY
Ricky_Ponting
on | December 17, 2012, 22:16 GMT

@Nutcutlet : Dude your comments are both funny and true to a large extent.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 22:13 GMT

says a lot about THIS Indian captain's priorities that he should consider the failure to feature in a one-day tournament finals series more damning than a home test series loss to the nation that first brought the sport of cricket to India in the decades before India's mid 1940s independence movement got their major non-sporting successes recognised on the world stage. Not even Bedi,Gavaskar,Kapil Dev,Shastri,Vengsarkar,Srikkanth,Azharuddin,Tendulkar,Dravid, Ganguly or Kumble would be so silly as to use a one day tournament failure as a comparison tool to a home test series loss to an English team that came into the campaign with underlying tensions between coaches Flower & Gooch and star batsman Kevin Pietersen.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 22:05 GMT

This quote of Dhoni "A few big players for us have left us. Youngsters coming up will have to fill the gap, and seniors will have to take extra responsibility till the juniors start getting runs or start taking wickets." is so not true....It is the established players who are not performing in this team...Sachin, gambhir, sehwag, dhoni...You cannot blame it on the two genius es whol retired - dravid and laxman...and neither can you blame the youngsters...pujara and virat are performing consistently....tjhese established players have taken their positions for granted and that is harming the test team..even after 10 losses to eng and aus, if the team composition does not change then Indian cricket ids doomed....

POSTED BY
Feroz9700
on | December 17, 2012, 22:04 GMT

Crisis or was it self inflicted. Why was a second seamer not picked, what were the Tail-Ender's doing batting so slowly on the last day and ruining India's chances of forcing a win. Why were close-in fielders in catching positions not posted to take wickets on final day. Indian tactics were very defensive and the changes made for the final test were uncalled for. Earlier in the series a fielder with shin pads was placed at 1st slip and dropped a vital catch of Cook. These were catastrophic blunders not expected from any professional team.

POSTED BY
Valavan
on | December 17, 2012, 22:02 GMT

@Last_Ride, yep you are right you said you drew 2 test series, even England drew a test series in India in 2006, what matters is winning, when did you last win, it was in 2000, and India was same as now after loosing to Oz in 1999/2000. Did you think SA won in India when India was in Peak. Btw you were the bunch who threw ODIs for money. Gibbs, Boje and Cronje sagas. Of course Anderson could have worn out by 2015, Steyn would be toyed, No Kallis, Smith would be a walking wicket by then, When Aussies were suffering you were not able to force a win in 2011 at your home, ofcourse Herath and Samaraweera thrashed your greats in Durban in 2011 and as a result SA will never host a Durban test. Thats how SA goes, make sure pitches are even this time else Pak pacers and spinners will give tough time in Feb 2013. Howl or dont howl, its about Eng Vs Ind, take a walk. cricinfo please publish.

POSTED BY
Sunil_Canada
on | December 17, 2012, 21:50 GMT

Jayawandene may not be as great as SRT! Still do you think if Jayawardene had similar performance like SRT, he would continue to play. If Sangakkara had similar loss as captain like MSD, would he remain captain? SRT & MSD, please wake up, face the reality. BCCI, selectors and commentators are equally to be blamed; none has guts to say anything negative about SRT & MSD except Gavaskar indirectly said Kohli is ready for test captaicy, hats off to you Sir for the courage! SRT & MSD, I cannot see people starting to talk ill about you as I have grown seeing you in your best days and I cannot see that you are shown the door. Please exit with grace. I know you can still score more runs in tests but you are blocking youngsters from coming up & learn from failures. I would rather have youngsters fail & learn than you fail as they have future but you dont. You have nothing to prove, you have achieved everything. Now please do right thing for Indian cricket although that may not be right for U.

POSTED BY
AjaySridharan
on | December 17, 2012, 21:48 GMT

Dhoni, well, of course, with his usual excuses. Have to feel for him though...he is only as good as his players. This team let him down big time on both bowling and batting, no doubt. But he was very unimaginative as a captain as well. When the usual suspects and templates aren't working, he should have experimented more. What was the reason for not giving Sachin a bowl? He would have put a lot more rip on the ball than any of his frontline spinners and go something out of the pitch. Sehwag can be a quite a handy bowler too. If they had got a few wickets, it would have given them some confidence in the batting too. He should have experimented with the batting order. Why not open with Sachin in a couple of innings...throw him a new challenge to get something out of him. He could have got Sehwag down the oder to protect him and give him a higher chance of success...especially when he was the only hope India had in the batting department. Dhoni has become very defensive.

POSTED BY
Alexk400
on | December 17, 2012, 21:47 GMT

I doubt india would have won first Test without sehwag batting. He is only X factor player in the test team. we need 4 X factor players to win against top team. All we have is average young players who will make runs in in 6 when things are easy. I do not blame selectors , it is whole BCCI setup failure. 1 billion indians they can't find fast bowler or spinner. I think until BCCI is taxed they do not care what fans think

POSTED BY
vipravara
on | December 17, 2012, 21:43 GMT

Some more innovative (hopelss) methods to project Dhoni and his success as test captain at least in India. Teams visiting India will be provided two test match pitches at every center- one for home team batting (maily to blunt visiting team's bowling prowess and support ODI/T20 batting stars) and the other for visitors' batting (mainly to support home team bowlers to shoot out the oppositin). It is up to the other teams to do the same when teams tour them, as India won't mind losing abroad anyway. BCCI should get the nod for this from ICC, just similar to the way they got it for ruling out DRS involving India. This can make Dhoni the best cricket captain with success at least in home test series- a cricket lover from India.

POSTED BY
Shan156
on | December 17, 2012, 21:41 GMT

I think the following XI would be a good choice for the Aussie series provided everyone is fit: Rahane, Gambhir (c), Pujara, Kohli, Sehwag, Ashwin, Patel (wk), Harbhajan, Aaron, Umesh, Ojha. Sehwag should be demoted. When India had a rock solid middle order, it was all fine for Sehwag to play his natural game. Now, he should assume more responsibility and steady the middle order. He has the talent, just needs more temperament. I believe giving captaincy to Gambhir will take his game up one notch. Ashwin is a batting all-rounder and is more capable wit the bat than what many think. Patel, hopefully, has improved his wk skills. Harbhajan still has a lot to offer, me thinks. Build a pace attack around Umesh and Aaron (Awana, Dinda should be on standby) and give them enough encouragement. This team may not win all but it will fight.

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 17, 2012, 21:39 GMT

@starincricket: I am not aware of the details of the operation that Donald went through but it is likely that he got his ligaments and tendons tightened up a bit. I don't think it is possible to surgically enhance the muscles just like that. If it was so then bodybuilders would stop taking supplements and going to gym and would instead go to the doctors to get bigger and better muscles. I have done a fair amount of research on this topic and for want of space can't mention the full detail here.

As for the others things you talk about, they are all about mental strength and being psyched up. Not just the Ind Cricketers but we as average Indian somehow lack the mental toughness to handle several challenges that occur in our lives. We are a bit too scared of the police and Red Beacon Cars, we are too timid to prevent a crime from happening etc etc, we are too soft to stand our ground. And by the time we learn to we are in our 30s.

POSTED BY
Shan156
on | December 17, 2012, 21:37 GMT

@Mocherra, bowling is a bit settled? Are you referring to England's bowling by any chance? No way is the Indian bowling settled. They don't have the ammunition to win anywhere outside India. They cannot get opposition cheaply on a consistent basis. Umesh Yadav is the only decent paceman and he is injury prone. The spinners are no good. Don't get tricked by Ojha's figures in this series. The bloke hasn't played outside India and will get hammered in Aus/Eng/SA. Ashwin has proved that he is more of a batting allrounder than a genuine spinner. The only settled bloke, to some extent, in the Indian team are Pujara and Kohli. Everyone else, including the captain, are liabilities. Indian fans may live in denial that everything is hunky dory or they could wake up and smell the coffee. Even though I am not an Indian fan, test cricket needs a strong Indian team.

POSTED BY
YorkshirePudding
on | December 17, 2012, 21:36 GMT

Sorry but Dhoni is seriously deluded if hes comparing a home series loss to losing a game of pyjama cricket. Especially after all the proclimations after being humiliated in england and australia, about how they would inflict a similar defeat on those teams when visiting India.

Sadly the BCCI and Selectors will stick thier collective heads in the sand, and say its an aberation.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 21:18 GMT

i think dhoni is shameless. this loss represents the nadir for him as far his test captaincy is concerned. under him india were blanked in the test series by england in england and by australia in australia. and now this series defeat has come at home. but dhoni will never run out of excuses. srinivasan will continue to back him for obvious reasons. selectors will have no say in front of srinivasan. so dhoni will stay as captain.

POSTED BY
nyc_missile
on | December 17, 2012, 21:11 GMT

This man is just a bundle of excuses! time for fresh thinking,new personnel enough of this rubbish understatements and underplaying of the rot! Bring in Kohli as captain and dump Sachin, Dhoni, Gambhir from this team along with Fletcher and rest will take of itself..

POSTED BY
gsingh7
on | December 17, 2012, 21:06 GMT

i agree to dhoni , u can rise from ashes again like a phoenix, dhoni is the man to steer Indian ship clear and sink English ship, he should play like a captain , leader and legend, win 5-0 odi's and reach the promise land as once shown by man united 1999 team, rise to occasion and grab ur opportunity, we lesser mortals are looking up to u

POSTED BY
CandidIndian
on | December 17, 2012, 21:01 GMT

astopal-I agree with your post , but when VVS is forced into retirement so that Sir Ravindra Jadeja gets the chance to play then anything can happen.Its an open secret that CSK monopoly is manipulating selection process,talented players will be sidelined in future too.

POSTED BY
karan8300
on | December 17, 2012, 20:55 GMT

MS ... plz go away from CAPTAINCY!!! plz ... ... I think Its the time to give Kohli the charge. He is energetic and might not want to play RCB players like MS who intend to give CSK players more value. Why u choose 4 spinners in the slot and now telling us that it was difficult for the spinners to ball?

POSTED BY
CricketingStargazer
on | December 17, 2012, 20:49 GMT

Case in point of a player who gets massively hyped so that tactics revolve around his is Virender Sehwag. No one argues that he is not a fine player, but look at his record against England: in 17 Tests he averages 29.3, with a top score of 117 and 2x100, 4x50. In his last 7 Tests v England he has passed 50 just twice. He is capable of great acts of hitting, but you don't base your tactics around a player who has passed 50 just 6 times in 29 innings against the opposition. His last 13 innings v England he has passed 30 just 3 times. In other words, he simply is not giving stability at the top of the order, yet I get the impression that he is undroppable. In the last 2 years he has played 17 Tests and averages 30.5! In most sides a player who averages that over 2 years would be lucky to keep him place, let alone be a fixture. Why is he undroppable? Has anyone been brought along to replace him as, evidently, his powers are waning?

POSTED BY
A_Vacant_Slip
on | December 17, 2012, 20:45 GMT

There are a lot of people who are not here. People such as;@mathewjohn1274 @Gerard Pereira @Kritika Prasad @puntertakeson @hira02 @Gupta.Ankur @dariuscorny @bigwonder @full-blooded-wallop. These people were making big big claim for years now coming to England forum and posting trash. Why don't you come here now? We want to hear what you have to say - you weren't short of comment before.... cat got your tongue?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 20:36 GMT

You tried him but found out he was no good...and after 5 yrs u pick him again for doing nothing in the past 3 yrs. This is wht ur captain indirectly admits..hang these selectors I say.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 20:35 GMT

There you go guys. This man will never learn. How dare he equate a world cup loss to losing 3 consecutive test series, 2 of them straight whitewashes ?!!!#$@ Doesn't make any sense to me how this man is even captain. Goes to show how rock bottom Indian cricket has gone. He needs to be immediately sacked as captain and a new man should take up the reins. I don't even care if that man has to be Kohli, we need a new brain, a new perspective. Dhoni is thinking like a limited overs specialist and that's harmful to Indian test cricket. Defensive thoughts, negative mind sets are the cancers currently plaguing our system. Please BCCI, sack Dhoni immediately !!! We need a honest person who respects test cricket as it should be. Not a guy who has done well in T20s and ODIs and who he just looking to fill the diary entries in test cricket. Test cricket deserves its own specialists. Please do something.

POSTED BY
CricketingStargazer
on | December 17, 2012, 20:28 GMT

@Mocherra No one denies that the team are in transition but people have been asking for at least 3 years if there was a plan for this transition. The selectors knew that the old stars would not continue for ever, but seem not to have made any preparations. When England went to Bangladesh they fielded various fringe players to see how they would measure up. Injuries have been used to try out players like Bairstow. Not all the experiments have worked, but then you don't expect them to. India though have not only not prepared replacements, they have continued to imbue players who are a shadow of their former self (e.f. Harbhajan), or non-specialists with legendary powers. Ravi Ashwin is a player who impressed me in 2011 but, despite his successes against weaker opposition, you felt that he was not ever doing to be a spinner who would bowl out good sides in Tests and so it has proved, but the selectors have persisted with him as a front-line spinner and wrecking his self-confidence.

POSTED BY
itsthewayuplay
on | December 17, 2012, 20:26 GMT

To say that losing a test series doesn' come close to the 2007 WC defeat reveals MSD's attitude towards test cricket and skills of diplomacy. Test cricket is the pinnacle of the sport hence the name. How you compare defeat in one format with another is beyond me. And lastly how is the 2007 WC even relevant now?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 20:26 GMT

Mr Dhoni should look back the last 18 months of Test Cricket played by India, winning series against lower ranking side and losing series against higher ranking teams rather comparing WC 2007, doesnt make sense?? Team India is good for ODI & T20 its mean they dont play Test matches as their team are going through transition , well said, Mr Dhoni your team had been outplayed, before the series started one of adds said India, England kae band baja dae ghee now VV has happened, this is the reason in olden days they used to say never say big things, India will Wi nagainst Pakistan Mr Dhoni & whole Indian nation will be very happy and forget this series loss in no time.

POSTED BY
umangsagar
on | December 17, 2012, 20:24 GMT

after 10 defeats in 12 tests....with 2 back to back home defeats...this still is not as bad as india's world cup FINAL defeat of 2007? the guy has become totally shameless....someone plz tell him that then, india REACHED the FINAL of the World CUP..moron...this is the plight of indian cricket, when those who have not step on the cricketing field as player are the administrators and those who step, have arrogance so high that they cant see past the cocoon of comfort they constantly live in with huge cash inflows...reality is a bridge way too far for them...sad..sad...sad

POSTED BY
Chris_P
on | December 17, 2012, 20:20 GMT

Losing a WC match meant more? That my friends is the problem for Indian test cricket.

POSTED BY
notgburns
on | December 17, 2012, 20:20 GMT

Indian selectors need to start focusing on an important stat for players - BMI. The sight of overweight players bumbling around on the pitch is indicative of the attitude of those players. A massive cricketing nation like India deserves consummate professionals playing for her, not people like Sehwag for whom talent is enough to avoid hard work (and two dropped catches are the latest proof of that). India deserves people like Dravid who worked hard every day to improve himself as a professional, even from the height of 10000 runs. Get rid of those fat lazy players, and rebuild the team starting with Ishant, Ashwin and Kohli. And get rid of the attitude that you can be "good enough" to play for India without needing to improve. India needs to learn from Aus/Eng/SA that everything is important, cricket is now a sport for athletes and that if you aren't working as hard as possible you lose your place in the team. Can anyone imagine Sehwag would be in the Aus team with his fat gut?

POSTED BY
UglyIndian
on | December 17, 2012, 20:20 GMT

Well, Dhoni hails from a state that is notorious for shrewd and corrupt politicians. With every passing defeat, Dhoni sounds more like a politician and less like a captain of a national team.
So, what is it then? Is Dhoni really stupid? Or does he think everyone else is stupid?

POSTED BY
itsthewayuplay
on | December 17, 2012, 20:08 GMT

MSD says that seniors have to take responsibility until juniors start scoring. So who takes responsibility until the seniors start scoring? If India is serious about rebuilding and giving youngsters a chance then Gambhir, Sehwag and Tendulkar should be dropped on their current form. Let them go back to Ranji to earn their place again. In the meantime India should not be concerned with results but the performances and the opportunity for youngsters to gain experience. For example, Sehwag is a 1 in 20 performer and having scored a century in the 1st test and done nothing in the following 3, he can dropped for the next 16 tests which would give his replacement a good run in team.

POSTED BY
disco_bob
on | December 17, 2012, 20:07 GMT

Do not be harsh on India, they are in a transition period. ie They are transitioning away from Test cricket. Period.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 20:05 GMT

Loosing no 1 ranking to SA at home and winning a series in India. A dramatic turn around for England.

POSTED BY
Hash_Tag
on | December 17, 2012, 20:04 GMT

@Harmony111 wasn't it you who wrote on (July 24 2012, 14:49 PM GMT) soemthing like this -" I can clearly see you are enraged to see your team losing so badly. Please tell me, how does it feel to receive A COMPREHENSIVE TEST SERIES THRASHING ...and...and...THAT TOO AT HOME. What happened to the #1 team that was supposed to do well all the time against all the team in all conditions especially at home? Please share your thought on this. In 2011 and 2012, India have been a horrible team, 4-0 whip in Australia, struggling to beat NZ (in India lol). Lest you forget, Eng had beaten India in 2011 another 4-0 whip... when was the last time India defeated SA or Aus in their home? - I don't know (never). Even at your "peak" in 2011, you were toyed by England 8-0 in all formats keep that in mind too. It is all over. See what is being done to...." shall I continue @Harmony111? Does this look familiar to you @Harmony111? That's the thing about cricinfo @Harmony111 - it remembers....

POSTED BY
Alexk400
on | December 17, 2012, 20:03 GMT

Mr.Excuse come out with another. Now he is attacking dravid captaincy by saying 2007 world cup loss is bad. This guy never takes responsibility. team stopped playing for him after 2011 worldcup. he could n't make them play for him because he got cocky and egoistic after world cup 2011. Dhoni has to go. I would rest sehwag and gambhir also. I field completely new team under kohli. Lets start experiments early.

POSTED BY
CurrentPresident
on | December 17, 2012, 20:00 GMT

This is 1757 all over again...

The undisciplined, disjoint Indian forces losing to a better organized, harder working, disciplined English. Huge egos clouded by easy money, non-cooperation, hatchet jobs from within the team and the weak Nawab Dhoni adrift in denial. Just turn up and hope for some miracle?

What more could you expect other than the Union Jack flying over the BCCI?

POSTED BY
disco_bob
on | December 17, 2012, 20:00 GMT

@Jeevan Vignes, ...Harbhajan?, don't you know Punter has retired.

POSTED BY
AneYako
on | December 17, 2012, 19:49 GMT

This is just embarrassing

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 19:45 GMT

Losing a game to B'desh is not a low - it's one bad day - against a spirited team. Losing a Test series - first 4:0 in England and then 2:1 at home - that seriously undermines everything you've achieved before. No comparison. More importantly, what kind of attitude is that? Earlier Dhoni used to talk about past successes to deflect criticism of current performance. But you know the psychological damage is severe when he is reduced to making that argument that "we have been even worse before".

POSTED BY
baskar_guha
on | December 17, 2012, 19:43 GMT

Indiian fans should not be naive and expect victories no matter what the talent level is and who they are playing and even where they are playing. Indian bowling never was its strength and now it is actually worse than ever at the same time as Indian batting is going through a change of guard and thus poorer than it has been in a decade. Things will get better but it will take time.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 19:43 GMT

No remorse, No introspection and telling the truth like it was. Indian team lacked badly a competitive spirit. False sense of hope like Ashwin's statement in the fourth test that - we will win when it was just a matter of time for the team's defeat. Someone with true guts should take this team to task, make changes and forced retirements (SRT and others) and the rest should get some counseling and training ......in all the areas of this game. Let the groundsman do his job without uncalled for comments from Dhoni et al. First of all BBCI management and the selectors should come forward and take the responsibility for this shameful performance. The players are doing some job in the field but these wise men - the management and selectors - continue to screw up in their job showing no remorse. What a waste of time and money on this Team India.

POSTED BY
pmcricket
on | December 17, 2012, 19:42 GMT

@Daniel..yeah test cricket noyt only does matter to the current crop of indian players..it also does not matter to th e99% cricket watching public in India..we only watch t20 & odi..most of the folks that you see here lamenting india's loss are the other 1% ..:)

POSTED BY
disco_bob
on | December 17, 2012, 19:41 GMT

@Front-Foot-Lunge on (December 17 2012, 11:00 AM GMT) "What a thrashing India have been given here, England can now boast...."

Yet they couldn't hold onto the no. 1 spot, fancy that.

POSTED BY
Drajayk2
on | December 17, 2012, 19:36 GMT

Apart from 1st test it was a bad performance by top order batsmen. Youngsters like pujara and kohli will be more confident in 1-2 years time. Dhoni in fact tried his best with this not so good team. Who is our strike bowler? Who is the batsman in form throughout the 4 tests? Dhoni applauding Anderson was absolutely right and we so missed a fast bowler. If only zaheer was 10 years younger and sachin was 5 years. With laxman and dravid we would have blown England away. But! Not taking away anything from England, they played well collectively and their batsmen mainly cook, peitersen and prior were very gutsy and magnificent. So looking forward to t20 and one dayers. Bring it on!!

POSTED BY
JaiBhujwala
on | December 17, 2012, 19:35 GMT

Who is Dhoni trying to fool?

While WC 2007 was bad, it was all due to 1 loss to Bangladesh, this was a collective failure for 3 test matches. most of it due to his own arrogance and biased nature. Why pick Rahane in the squad when you wanted to bench him all the way. Sir R jadeja score 2 300s in dometic cricket and is picked while a guy has an average of over 60 for the past 4 seasons and he's asked to play for his Ranji side.

You needed a wrist spinner but you cannot pick Mishra because he's close to the Delhi lobby (which Dhoni dearly loves).

It was sheer killing of Indian captain by captain not so cool these days!

POSTED BY
Mocherra
on | December 17, 2012, 19:31 GMT

I hope people including selectors recognize that this Test Team is in transition to some extent and one needs to be patient before they starting clicking and adapting to the longest form. When we lost in Eng & Aus, we were a full batting side but bowling was weak due to injuries & form. Now, with Dravid & Laxman gone, the batting is in transition and bowling is a bit settled but form will vary.

So, with more test matches being played this team will gain the experience. Look at WI, how long they have struggled, India will not go that way for sure and the hardcore loyal fans need to stick with the team.

POSTED BY
BobCo
on | December 17, 2012, 19:30 GMT

Does any one else feel the same as me, in that Dhoni just doesn't seem to get it? Its just another loss, he says. We've had worse in my time, he says.

Sorry, MS, but I don't really feel you have. Lets consider this a little bit -- lets start with 8 straight thrashings away from home. Then after jumping up and down about getting "Indian" pitches at home so that his team get the home advantage, and then even _winning_ the first test, still Team India managed to lose a home series with conditions totally designed to be in their favour (at least in MS's view). How many home series have India ever lost after leading? I don't know the answer to that, but I'd bet that the answer is something like "very few". It has been an embarrassment on several levels: the insipid manner of the losses, the pitiful blame game, the behaviour over a correct (!!!) decision, the lack of acceptance of any responsibility.

Personally, I feel this to be a real low in India's test history. A sad day. :-(

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 19:16 GMT

Dhoni in Denial! How did it come to this from April 2nd 2011?

POSTED BY
Nutcutlet
on | December 17, 2012, 19:08 GMT

When you're explaining a Test series defeat, you don't compare it to a WC, esp. one over five years ago! Comparing like with like is what is required. Of course, we can all read the implicit message. The bubble coming out of Dhoni's head goes something like this: I don't like Test cricket & we're no good at it anyway. I'll block this 1-2 defeat out of my mind & out of everyone's mind. ODIs & T20 are what I really enjoy. Short matches for good pay! Tests are such HARD WORK! IPL's really the best. Big bucks for three hours work! Can't beat it. As for the pesky press, I'm not giving them anything. And if we can arrange more wickets like Nagpur, we can kill off Test cricket in a couple of years. Good thing it wasn't a result wicket! We'd have lost 1-3! Smart work, that. Good bit of damage limitation. The BCCI will be pleased we hit on that ruse. We're goin' to win! Do what we set out to do - kill off Test cricket! Now, can anyone believe that the truth is a long way from this surmisal?

POSTED BY
sinhasurajit
on | December 17, 2012, 19:04 GMT

Some suggessions for Dhoni, BCCI and Dear team India to win again

pitch only favor indian bowlers, reverse swing by any bowler other than indian must consider as a no-ball, no spinner other than indian is allowed to bowl, umpires are not allowed to give LBW or runout to Indian batsmen, Indian team is allowed an extrabowler/bastman as needed, Tendulkar is allowed three chances in each innings as he is the best bastman in world and double the money if India loose a match despite this measures.

POSTED BY
Ashiskha
on | December 17, 2012, 19:01 GMT

Ease up fellas! I think the selectors are equally responsible for not putting the best-11 on the field which is evident from changing the squad for the 4th test. The change didn't have any bearings on the dismal 4th test. So, the fault lines are somewhere else. Keep test, ODI and T20 teams as well as the selectors separate with a specialist consultant on each and structure their pay accordingly. This way you address accountability, motivate individuals, know their strengths. Now captaining is a separate issue and needs to done chosen collectively by the team members selected. An outsider can't come in and say---'You're the captain.' Anyone playing sports can attest to this fact.

When the captain compares the WCup for 3 premier series in TEST cricket and says they are not a big deal whenn they were expected to win or atleast draw all, then we have a problem. Heres a stat line: 1 Win....Just 1 win and 10 losses in 12 matches vs Nations in Top4 in test cricket. Thiss reaction is a joke. Give Kohli the Captaincy.

POSTED BY
Shrescs
on | December 17, 2012, 18:48 GMT

I believe, the MAJOR difference between the two teams was Aliaster Cook.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 18:47 GMT

As if it wasn't clear enough already - Dhoni has now basically come out and said that test cricket does not matter to the Indian players. If you're even going to bother asking the question 'why?', then you might want to listen to a little tune by Pink Floyd.

POSTED BY
starincricket
on | December 17, 2012, 18:47 GMT

@Harmony111 : i agree to an extentr that genetics play role in fast delivery.. but i still remember allan donald who had an operation on his legs to bowl more fast.. and he was successful after that. i think only donald had this successful. intend is not to do the same.. but atleast to find one or two genetic from 1 billion...

i see dinda and umesh produce little faster than other bowlers. but they are giving more runs.. if india really keen to have fast bowlers.. then identify the bowlers who are better here and train them to provide better inswing/outswing,yorker,short ball,bounce,low full toss, full, angling cross delivery, bowl to stumps and pitching the ball with variations. These things will come by practice .. i think that needs to have training..

As am a fast medium bowler i would say this will help to shape them well.. they need more chance as well in international cricket.. these guys need to be monitored cautiously.. india should have world class spinners & fast bowlers!!

POSTED BY
rajat6666
on | December 17, 2012, 18:47 GMT

Captain Dhoni is Right on Many counts,This Phase for Indian cricket had to come,It was on the cards as the Shoes Of likes Of Rahul & Laxman are Very hard to fill,But still the Replacements Pujara And Kohli did petty Okieee. What has left us beffudled is The adaptability of The English Batsmen against Spin Bowlers. English side have never been known to play spinners well and Likes Of Ashwin & Ojha are No Mean Spinners by any count but they seemed totally ineffective after the 1st test. The question arrises is it the Grinding attitude that English batsmen like Cook,Trott,Prior,Pieterson,Bell displayed that rendered our Spin Twins ineffective or was it the dead pitches that cost us ?? However Media shoudn't Blame Dhoni by any means as HE is the man who have touched Indian Cricket to unimmagined Heigfhts and this downfall after the retirement of Intellectuals like laxman and Dravid was bound to come,Dhoni should retain Captaincy for Now and Sachin should take a call on his future plans

POSTED BY
TheCricketEmpireStrikesBack
on | December 17, 2012, 18:45 GMT

@RohanMarkJay - thank you for an insightful and unbiased summation. @Front-Foot-Funge - I think I prefer your full-on trolling mode.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 18:43 GMT

Crisis 'nowhere close to 2007 World Cup loss' : this is fairly acceptable as far as it is coming out of the highly respectable mouth of Mr.EXCUSE your majesty SIR M.S.Dhoni... the man who hardly understands test cricket, the man whose Good Luck has at last signaled him through red light when he was dismissed on 99 that , "boss, i am no more your companion". Now the onus is on our mighty cricket management to interpret the language of Sir's Good Luck in the correct sense and oblige the nation with hard decisions which are desperately needed to be taken now.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 18:41 GMT

There is a need to clarify here in this discussion. A lot of people are asking why dhoni comparing this series loss to World Cup 2007 ousting. In fact (as I was watching the press conference a little bit on tv), someone had probably asked him to compare this loss to the 2007 ousting and which was the bigger loss and that is how he answered the question. Sometimes, as I wouldve done so myself had I not known, we misinterpret news although it is true that had India won, everything he would've said wouldn't be much pondered upon but in case of such defeats everything is looked at critically. Also a case when so easily a response to a question at a press conference can be construed at something totally different, especially so when so many questions are being asked.

POSTED BY
palla.avinash
on | December 17, 2012, 18:40 GMT

dhoni should leave test cricket now

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 18:39 GMT

If Sehwag and Tendulkar are so inconsistent in their performances who is going to talk to them and give them certain ultimatums in this regard? When are these two guys going to be gracious enough to step aside on their own. Dravid did the right thing - he commands respect from all the folks for what he did. These 2 guys have such big egos that they dont realize that they are coming in the way of India's many possible victories. Are these 2 guys involved in mentoring the younder guys - from what I see I dont think so. Humility and teamwork is non existent among these guys.
Why can't we reinforce the national team with more capable guys on all fronts. The selection committee for the test team also needs to have more clout and integrity in their selections. Selection committee should consist of 10 successful former cricketers / captains who select based on certain specific criteria for success. Its a pity that such a huge nation numbers wise turns out such incompetent and useless losers.

POSTED BY
dork29
on | December 17, 2012, 18:37 GMT

I am amazed at the complete lack of understanding of the jokers ho keep writing in this column.First of all Dhoni has got 99 runs in the last match, because of which we could at least draw the match. Otherwise we would have lost this match as well. Coming to his lack of batting in test matches, it is idiotic to compare him with other batsmen. He is a wicketkeeper who has to concentrate for each and every ball when the team is fielding, besides thinking of strategy. If he is blaming the batsmen, he is 100% correct. Tendulkar has been an embarassment - why doesn't he get criticiswed? Whyy Dhoni? Because he is answering press reporters? Lastly, he is not comparing test matches and one day matches - if the buffoons who have never played a decent match all their lives know, Dhoni can also know that. All he is saying is, the sense of frustration and disappointment was much more when India lost to Bangladesh in 2007. He won us two world cups and made India number 1 in Tests.So, SHUT UP.

POSTED BY
Satish_Sharma001
on | December 17, 2012, 18:36 GMT

Well written by Balaji.B.Krishnan. It is obvious Dhoni cares more about one day cricket than test cricket as he felt bad after loosing to Bangladesh in a one day game than loosing a test series against England.
India should consider different captains for test and on days+20/20.
How about Kohli as a test captain and Dhoni for 1D and 20/20?

POSTED BY
SamAsh07
on | December 17, 2012, 18:33 GMT

Still the same problem with the Indian Team - find an old tour or performance and say "Not worse than that". The team is going down rapidly and soon the Asian juggernauts will be SL, Pak and Bangladesh with minnows India.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 18:33 GMT

i need to know whether dhoni received score anything for team by scoring century in last certain matches.

POSTED BY
Biggest_Cricket_Fan
on | December 17, 2012, 18:30 GMT

I really admire Dhoni now. He baffles everyone. Even after 2-1 loss in home conditions where "revenge" was planned (this time not by media but by the players themselves). Remember thoes comments from Sehwag, Kohli, Gambhir etc. about the series. So instead of soul searching after 10 test losses (ignoring wins against WI and NZ) is this guy trying to settle scores with Dravid (as he was captain then) for his overall omments about the Indian team, this is really shameful. I hope Sandeep Patil and his associates show some character at least this time and knocks Dhoni not only from captaincy but also from Team along with other players such as careless Sehwag, aging Tendulkar , Gambhir etc. Also its high time, we consider Ashwin as a batsman and forget him as a bowler. I think it would be better to loose with young players which could help in building the future, rather than these snobish players. Time has come to show Dhoni and these players that Yes! India can survie without you guys.

POSTED BY
kickassPakistan
on | December 17, 2012, 18:21 GMT

this is what we call a classic case of denial

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 18:06 GMT

Dhoni should learn what Test cricket is all about. One cannot compare Test loss with the ODI Loss. Tendulkar can be rested for a while and Suresh Raina can be included instead of Yuvi. Dhoni failed as a captain and as a Test Player. He can step down from captaincy and should play as a team player.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 18:04 GMT

How could Dhoni say WC 2007 loss was worse than this one ? India's early exit from that world cup was due to one untimely loss to Bangladesh, whereas this Test series loss at home comes after playing bad cricket for almost one year now. It is true that India is going through a phase of rebuilding and we've got to give some time before expecting good results. In any case, Dhoni's finger-pointing is quite uncalled for.

POSTED BY
scottnye
on | December 17, 2012, 18:03 GMT

@RohanMarkJay, please don't embarrass yourself with such comments, they make you look a bit silly. England have Cook, Pieterson, Trott, Prior, Swann and Anderson who are genuinely world class players. The thoroughly outclassed, outthought and outplayed India. I am not gloating, these are the facts.

How you can say England are a weak team given their performance over the past 3-4 years is beyond me. Yes they lost to Pakistan last winter, and see how they have learned from that series - they have just beaten your Indian side at its own game in its own back yard.

They did become complacement after hitting number 1 spot, and a thoroughly convincing defeat to South Africa brought them back to earth with a bang. 2012 was not their greatest year, however, they have ended it strongly and I look forward to a highly competitive series against NZ (which we should win) and a fascinating Ashes summer.

POSTED BY
Dhanno
on | December 17, 2012, 18:03 GMT

WC 2007 was one bad day indeed and a deserved defeat and early exit. Now you have been doing it day in day out. Dhoni, you and ur ilk have been sub-par times for better part of 13 days test cricket. Where you stood out and asked for rank turners, you spend energy berating curating, making sure england dont get best conditions to practice. Everything was as per you wanted and YOU FAILED. Your backroom staff is saying Zaheer is top 6, you are supporting Chawla for half of your interview who isnt fit to be part of any International teams 11, your longest serving teammate was comparing 8-0 losses to 5-0 ODI defeats of england, bhajji/ zaheer/ yuvi type useless characters are still near this test team.
WC 2007 gets magnified because with that one defeat you were thrown out of WC. Indian teams have lost such embarrassing games (one off ODIs) too many times, and to be fair there was response to that loss (probably cause BCCI lost revenue).

What changes are we ringing in now you clown???

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 18:00 GMT

Seriously I am sick and tired of Dhoni's excuses he has been doing this for almost 2-3 years now not accepting his mistake and giving excuses does the same in odi's too.His excuses amaze me.But this is the limit 2007 wc loss was big enough agreed.If not for that loss and the gentleman Rahul Dravid was Dhoni never even might have become captain.Instead of accepting the blunders he makes this guy keeps giving excuses.Mr.Dhoni you may have won us two world cups but that doesnt make up for so many losses be a man accept our mistakes

POSTED BY
Rohan-Lalpudha
on | December 17, 2012, 18:00 GMT

As an average Indian, I am furious at the results and even more so at Dhoni's comments. I am feeling a rage within me and my adrenaline is pumping in my veins. My blood is boiling, I feel like running away to somewhere and hiding.

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 17, 2012, 18:00 GMT

@starincricket: Sadly, one can't TRAIN youngsters to become fast bowlers. Fast bowlers are that way naturally. From a bio-mechanical PoV, it is about having suitable muscle fibres which respond in an appropriate way to the demands of a fast bowler's action. Thus, it is all about genetics. Most of the Indian population has muscle fibres that respond SLOWLY and not QUICKLY. Thus, an avg Indian fast bowlers is not able to give the ball a quick release. This is something that can't be controlled or improved. Not even the best diet and training can do that. You can't make a bull run as fast as a horse no matter the training or diet. This is the innate nature of muscles. Diet and training can improve the muscle density and recovery but each individual muscle fibre will still remain in its original state. Diet will increase the stamina but not the response. Blame evolution for this. BCCI or our 1 Billion strength can do nothing about it, so let's import some Saffers :-p

POSTED BY
Balaji.B.Krishnan
on | December 17, 2012, 17:59 GMT

Dhoni has unintentionally given us the obvious truth through his observations that we failed to see all along. Test losses just do not hurt him as a player leave alone as a captain. We need a captain who is really serious about taking India back to the respected test team that it was in the early 2000s. Just wish we had a captain like Sourav. For all the controversies surrounding him and Greg Chappel, we need to look back at Sourav's period of captaincy when India took it as a matter of pride in winning tests. Remove Fletcher as coach, we can't have somebody who has stepped in with atleast honest attempts to arrest the slide. Make Virat as captain with clear instructions on building a new team of his own, let us not forget that Graeme Smith started off almost 10 years as captain. let us bring in the future...

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:59 GMT

"Self pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality."
― John Gardner, wake up dhoni boy enough of ur experimenting and to be honest even WC was due to Yuvi agreed u did play a fab innings in finals but remember Yuvi brought india there in fact he had messed it up big time against SA and England despite huge scores

POSTED BY
Dev-Mitra
on | December 17, 2012, 17:58 GMT

The team needs to be overhauled. Players retain their places based on past performances, which is utterly ridiculous. For Dhoni to say, 2007 was worse is equally bad. I am disappointed that the team does not play for pride. New talent needs to be groomed and people should be held accountable. In all the jobs we do, we are all held accountable and are in danger of losing our paychecks if we are consistent non-performers. He has lost 11 out of 12 test matches, and he says, professional sportspeople don't get affected by the results. Well we do.The selectors need to make tough decisions to save Indian Cricket

POSTED BY
Satish_Sharma001
on | December 17, 2012, 17:58 GMT

Few weeks ago someone wrote an article on this website abou tthe 'self denial' of Indian cricketers after loosing series against England and Australia. This statement from Dhoni should be at the top of that article. It is mind boggling that Mr. Dhoni is comparing a one-day loss to a Test series loss against England. This is self denial at its worst. I have seen many interviews from Test captains after loosing a test series and no one act as disgracefully as Mr. Dhoni.
I appeal to BCCI to please relieve Mr. Dhoni from his agony and appoint someone else as Indian captain to save Indian cricket.
Mr. Dhoni: shame on you for giving such an interview after loosing a series. For once accept your own mistakes as a captain and less than an average wicket keeper who cannot hold a ball down the leg side.

POSTED BY
NairUSA
on | December 17, 2012, 17:51 GMT

Cannot blame Dhoni here. He has given everything that he has got and more. Unfortunatley, that is not enough for India now. BCCI should relieve his pain and gracefully strip off the Captaincy from him. He still adds great value as an experienced wicketkeeper and a gutsy batsman. As a regular player, Dhoni can definitely play the role of mentor for new young faces in the team.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:50 GMT

loss this testmatch because to maany saedar playing in one team like culcutta, mumai ,delhi , chennai , nothing about captancy but tem spirit

POSTED BY
Dhanno
on | December 17, 2012, 17:49 GMT

So I fail in an exam and my excuse is, "this is nothing, i failed some other exams few years ago, those were worse". This team and its fans will learn nothing! The one person in last 2 months who did something good for test cricket is VVS. He retired and left the spot so we can choose a youngster in his place against NZL. What did we do instead? We tried Raina, again! Then when he was discarded we tried Yuvi, yet again. Dhoni is talking about youngsters, he might as well say his coterie, Vijays, Yuvis, Raina, Ashwin, Chawla, Gambhir etc. They will keep on rotating these richards for next 5 years by then CSK will have identified set of more such players.

Indian public wont give a hoot as long as the fixed league of sloghitting continues. See ppl like Cpt.Meansters who were predicting whitewashes now coming back and claiming they knew this result all along. So whats the big deal ? Great indian fans can quickly accept 1-2 reversal while predicting 4-0, they have IPL to look fwd to!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:48 GMT

Dhoni need to realise that his luck is no more with him all the stars in the galaxy has moved away as well as the star players, whom he wanted to get rid off to pull his pals like Jadeja, Raina. The statement he made on Jadeja would have been more applicable to Yuvi whom too he has shown the door. Jadeja, Raina and himself will perform once in a blue moon. Dhoni himself performed well whenever he played up the order but rarely. He will tell that he wants to give chances to others that is basically an excuse. Batting with full concentration is not an easy job so he tried to avoid as much he could as he had few star players to the job for him. Once they have gone he wants to promote his pals or make the BCCI chief happy. On the other hand BCCI is interested in earning money so if it is IPL even better. Players reaching up to a certain standard get a chance in that. Thus there is no infrastructure for making players for test cricket. I would say the result is much better with all these.

POSTED BY
Rohan-Lalpudha
on | December 17, 2012, 17:47 GMT

@RohanMarkJay, on the contrary, it is our Indian team that is VERY OVERRATED. it has been for a long time now and we've had some exceptional players like dravis and laxman covering our blushes. Mr Tendulkar is extremely selfish and plays solely for his recors. Our captain lacks the vision, aggression and the courage to make bald decisions like dropping SRT. our bowlers have been well below par, our fielding often competes for bottom spot and now even our batting is being exposed. England, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan are all much much better than us. they underwent a rebuilding stage when we were too busy giving the pensioners a superstar status that they didn't deserve. and if this ENGLAD TEAM IS WEAK then what does that make us considering they are 6-1 up??? WAKE UP

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:45 GMT

We need to accept that our team is an ordinary team...
the golden phase is very much over...since the world cup, some of the players have been taking things for granted !
Dhoni is a good captain and he needs to recess the team and find a bunch of good youngsters whom he thinks he and the staff can invest on and make a good team out of them in future something which ganguly did by grooming players like sehwag harbhajan zaheer nehra while dravid tendulkar and laxman were already there...same way, Dhoni has the likes of Kohli Pujara Raina !
and the first and foremost concern is to make a pool of good fast pacers those who can swing the ball both ways and spinners with good technique so that they can be rotated something what Australia and England have been doing !
With all due respect, Sachin Tendulkar has been the greatest batsman India ever produced but everyone has a limited career, one cant play for life !
Tendulkar has to take a call now and call it quits...rather than being a burden

POSTED BY
gsingh7
on | December 17, 2012, 17:44 GMT

Poor from india, letting weak players of spin in this english side to draw match and series , they need to lift their tempo in odis and return the favour to these overrated poms, come on TEAM BLUE

POSTED BY
mudd
on | December 17, 2012, 17:43 GMT

its a smart trick from Dhoni to divert the humilation Indian cricket is facing. No way the test losses can be compared with ODI WC, completely disagree. Is he reminding of 2007 WC because he wasnt leading the India team that time, he just enjoyed the fruits of what Ganguly, Dravid & Kumble building of almost un beatable test side.

POSTED BY
Nutts
on | December 17, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Absolutely rightly said Dhoni. Losing a couple of ODIs under someone else's captaincy has to hurt a lot more than losing 10 out of the 11 consecutive tests under your own captaincy. Couldn't agree more.

POSTED BY
nishans32
on | December 17, 2012, 17:42 GMT

@RohanMarkJay,

I'm amazed that you think that Eng is minor when they have outperformed you in every department, including spin bowling.

What lost india the series is the attitude of the team that is very similar to yours.

They think they are IT and all other teams are minor. They disregarded team work over individual achievements. Thought that natural talent is superior even when you are not giving 100%.

I'm sure that all will be forgotten when it's time for IPL.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:41 GMT

If you can't win a test match at that pitch with 4 spinners, you should not be playing test cricket in first place.

POSTED BY
Unmesh_cric
on | December 17, 2012, 17:40 GMT

I have started to wonder whether Test defeats actually hurt Dhoni. It is almost as if he is not much bothered about this (8-0 overseas and defeat at home). It seems only thing that matters to him is World Cup wins and losses. Then why have a captain who doesn't care much about Tests? Keep him the captain of the format he cares about i.e. ODIs and T20Is. Replace him in Tests as captain. Gamble with Kohli. What's worse that can happen? 8-0 overseas? Defeat to England in home series? We have already done that. At least a new captain will mean a shutdown->restart in computer terms. Sometimes, this simple trick fixes a computer that's hung-up. Right now, Indian Test team is out of ideas. It badly needs a shutdown-> restart.

POSTED BY
task
on | December 17, 2012, 17:40 GMT

Yea..Somethings never change..Dhoni hasn't learnt anything..Indian fans too never change..If it is as easy as that..pick up your bat/ball..get on field..talk to the media..lead the Indian team..and then show it..Ravindra Jadeja isnt a good enough player..please..you are welcome to show how a good test player should be..

POSTED BY
mmoiyadi
on | December 17, 2012, 17:40 GMT

Wow!!! what an amazing talk of optimism. One can understand the need to put up a brave front but this is really silly. Comparison to WC 2007 loss. Is there no one who can make Dhoni understand the need to focus on the negatives instead of looking at false positives. I can clearly see this as a result of complacency after winning the first test at Ahmadabad.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:36 GMT

It's just an excuse to cover up his behind by talking about that time so that people can direct their blame towards the senior players.....I cannot understan Indian cricket fans mentality....they praise only Dhoni when India wins....becoz of the performances of the senior players(read....sachin dravid laxman sehwag gauti...batting only considered because dhoni doesn;t bowl..)...but
can I ask how many tests has Dhoni saved with his batting....ans is 2 matches in his 8 yrs long career.....MOM for a test matcj for his batting 0 or 1 maybe....man of the series....0....then in which sense he was in the test team for so long???
And in 2007 50 over WC couldn't he save the games???
Y is it hat every time for India to win any 1 but Dhoni has to play....but credit all to dhoni....only to dhoni???
If seniors are failing then how much did he score in this series???
not 1 match saving innings....

POSTED BY
US_Indian
on | December 17, 2012, 17:32 GMT

Wow-Captain Awesome. Again this is a case of self pity and self denial. Until and unless we have this habit of pitying ourselves and not disecting the reality and analysing and finding solutions and planning for the future to avoid such things from happening, India is not going to be a force to reckon with. This self pity and taking things lightly or dwelling in the past is preventing us from learning and improving. Hope the managment does something seriously on an emergency on a war footing with the future in mind , even if we lose a few matches or series in the process is fine if it can provide future results, this would be like long term investment plans rather than a short term investments. God bless India.

POSTED BY
bhanuma_nagadeep
on | December 17, 2012, 17:31 GMT

bcoz, the team felt bad for the 2007 WC results, they were able to win 2011 WC.... no matter, how bad the performances are, dhoni is not feeling anything now....future is very evident

POSTED BY
juvenileindia
on | December 17, 2012, 17:31 GMT

This is too stupid to compare a Test series loss and ODI loss. It's time for Dhoni to go and prove himself as a player in Test team. Again this is related only to test team, his performance or captaincy in short format is not a Question. It's just that he does not understand or serious about Test cricket. By choosing to play out the overs against weak West Indies side instead of going for a win and rolling his arm over in Lord's Test match and asking for a Spin track even after a Test loss he has proved that he does not have a mind required to Captain Test team. Test requires the skills to make thinks happen, rather than waiting for thinks to happen which he lacks.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:31 GMT

This guy continues to baffle me with his strange decisions / thoughts...2007 was a bad game or bad luck...here losing 0-8 and 1-2 in tests was a series of failures...primarily due to lackluster performances...wake up u guy..we have seen enough of your responsibilities..now have some rest!!!

POSTED BY
siddhartha87
on | December 17, 2012, 17:30 GMT

bring Rahane at no 4 and M.tiwari at no 6.Ashwin batted well in the series. But his bowling was pathetic to say the least.Make Ojha first choice spinner.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:30 GMT

world class batsman in cricket is given by India followed by poor bowlers but in resent one and half years Indian batsman are much more miserable then bowlers in test cricket.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:29 GMT

I think it's time to replace Dhoni as Captain in Test Cricket, If you look in all the 4 Test matches his fielding position is so defensive and does a waiting game to get a wicket..Just like what he does in One Days, That's not going to work..In the 4th Test match on the 4th day he did not deploy attacking field, he is just playing a waiting game and saving runs..What's the point in saving run when you are not getting any wickets under the situation they were in..The worst case would be the match will end in draw...In order to win he should have declared on the 4th day morning before the start of the game and should have going with attacking filed 2 or 3 players around the bat..His one day kind of strategy won't work, he has become a defensive captain and talks about team building and young team..India have been build team since Anil Kumble retired...but still they don't have one good spinner..

POSTED BY
BravoBravo
on | December 17, 2012, 17:27 GMT

Test status of IND should be revoked, or they should atleast be put on conditional probation-
They must play Tests with Ireland and other associates atleast twice a year as a visitor.
They must invite ZIM, NZ and BD and play as host atleast once a year.
When they are host, the pitch condition must be monitored and approved by sporting nation such as WI.
Matches between SL and IND must be banned fo atleast for 3 years.

Any violation from above condition will result in extension of their probation period.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:26 GMT

How can he possibly compare a bad ODI performance against Bangladesh to a humiliating test series loss against England in India , We know this team batting needs to gel as a unit and our spin department is not as good as it used to be . But I'm still not happy with Dhoni's defensive tactics , He still follows ODI methods in tests . Complains too much about pitches which will deter teams confidence in itself to perform . Winning a world cup doesn't mean that you're world beater , it's just biggest ODI event for every 4 years but Test cricket is what earns respect for a country all over the world .The good work done by INDIA from 2000 to 2011 in tests home and abroad is gone now . We still have to give time for Kohli n pujara though , i'm sure they will deliver like Dravid and Sachin for years to come . And take captaincy from dhoni give it to gambhir .

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:23 GMT

Incredible! This self-denial is appalling. BCCI and the players are living in a cocoon surrounded by sycophants. Guys! You are shameless, you lost 0-4, 0-4 and now 1-2 in your own background. Go to some place in the Himalayas and do some introspection - you will realize that you guys grace the worst period in Indian Test cricket. And I have been following tests since the early Seventies. You guys are absolute rubbish, a team of prima donnas with no discipline, work ethic or commitment to your profession. This is the rock bottom for Indian test cricket, at least we could blame on the crooks for the debacles in the Nineties. I feel so proud of guys like Kumble and Dravid who had such tireless attitude and wonderful role models for young cricketers. The attitude you guys have is pathetic, they reflect the all pervasive, corrupted values. As a caption of a nation with 1+ billion, Dhoni, please act dignified. If you get sacked, so be it -you will still be remembered as the WC winning chief.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:23 GMT

I am big fan of MS Dhoni. But after the disapointing series loss behaviour of Dhoni has been even more disappointing. He is only giving excuse and is not accepting his tactical mistakes as a captain he has made.
Dhoni, alongwith me, there are lot of people who respects you a lot, but if you behave the way you are doing after the loss, that respect may come down. We are very proud of your past achievements which no captains have achieved.
It seems the right time to hand over the reigns to someone with new ideas and you be a great player as you always have been. Its good for you and Indian cricket team

POSTED BY
npc_cricketlover
on | December 17, 2012, 17:21 GMT

yeh not bad as WC2007 coz dhoni scored 0,29,0 in that WC but now atleast he has a couple of half centuries to his name in this series. :P

POSTED BY
surya2607
on | December 17, 2012, 17:18 GMT

Oh god it is stil not hurting them much

indian fans wil once again gonna hurted soon and i wil stop following them

POSTED BY
Shan156
on | December 17, 2012, 17:17 GMT

@Nemesis76, exactly my thoughts. You have put it more succinctly.

POSTED BY
astopal
on | December 17, 2012, 17:17 GMT

@candidindian Bro on what count will they sack Sehwag ? He is the 3rd highest scorer for India this series Well ahead of MrCaptainnotsocool. Sehwag made 253 runs and hit a ton in 1st match to set the tone, and with pujara, won the game for us.
Dhoni got 191 runs where 99 came on a dead as a dodo pitch. Even Ashwin averages more that dhoni in tests (with the bat i mean:) and he is supposed to be a bowler. Dhoni's captaincy anyhow is as good as Nero in his prime. He clearly does not like, respect or care for test match cricket as is obvious with his remarks here.

Not as bad as WC !!!well i guess Captaincucumber has some special lows in the bag for Indian cricket. Like home series test defeat against Bangladesh or even a whitewash. This is truly the lowest point of Indian cricket in past two decades.

POSTED BY
Long-Leg
on | December 17, 2012, 17:16 GMT

I worry about these comments from Dhoni. Comparing test cricket to world cup cricket and saying that the current crises is not so bad, speaks volumes for the attitudes to test cricket in the India camp. India will be playing England again in July / August 2014 in a five match test series in England. They are staring down the barrel of a real drubbing unless they change their attitude soon. Also I am not convinced that James Anderson was the difference between the two sides, good though he was. I think England's spinners out bowled India's as well through this series.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:16 GMT

I think there is a real problem here ! What is he comparing the loss with ? WC 2007 loss ? where are your priorities captain ? If you dont understand, cant come to terms or if not interested, make way for youngsters to take over ! I would be less disappointed if this team minus Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Zaheer lose test matches or a series. Then I could say that there is a learnign curve to come up for the young brand of players. Dhoni is an experienced player and captain and for him to make such a statement belittling Test Cricket and its Stature is incredibly deplorable ! Pleas make your way out and let team India concentrate on the real game with focus and dedication.

POSTED BY
BowledYa
on | December 17, 2012, 17:15 GMT

@ Front Foot Lunge Are you serious? England - conquerors of the sub-continent? Have you fogotten the embarrassment this year with the whitewash against Pakistan? Though the series win is commendable, it is hardly against the best sub-continent team. Currently I would rate India behind Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They have weak bowlers, even in spin, and a struggling batting line-up. Against Pakistani spinners these very same England batsmen looked like club cricketers, and it wasn't long ago.

POSTED BY
RohanMarkJay
on | December 17, 2012, 17:15 GMT

Disgraceful, can't believe Indian couldn't beat an overrated weak England team in their own backyard. Seriously what went wrong. Sure England is a good workmanlike side, but a side of India's calibre should have easily beaten this England side with only truly one good player Peitersen of Spin bowling that Eng have. Seriously what went wrong? India pretty much gifted a series that they should have easily won. Now we won't here the end of it from England supporters. Anyway credit to England as weak a team as they are they stuck to their guns and waited for India to crack and unfortunately they did. I wouldn't have mind if England were actually a strong side but this is a weak England side against spin bowling Pakistan proved it. Poor performance from India not good enough at this level.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:13 GMT

Instead of chawla, I feel Rahul Sharma is apt replacement for kumble. He is tall as kumble and bowls wicket to wicket. for England I will matt prior is the unsung hero. Both in England and India, he has weathered an England downslide with counterattacking cricket.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:13 GMT

Changes are inevitable, Sehwag needs to bat down , while Sachin needs to retire...........Bring in Rehane and Unadkat in this team. This is not rock bottom but it is very close to it...........

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:09 GMT

Dhoni has reacted very poorly by saying that WC 2007 was worse (he wasnt the captain there). He should have shown enough respect to this defeat.

POSTED BY
himanshu.team
on | December 17, 2012, 17:09 GMT

While he is right in saying that we should not judge players simply by the stats, but then Piyush Chawla really does not have much talent either. He has had number of chances, both at domestic as well as international levels. Same goes for players like Raina and Rohit Sharma. It is time we admit our current crop of players are not good enough. Dropping Zaheer was a good start, now we must follow it up with retiring Sachin. Baba Aparajit and Harmeet singh should get a chance at international levels. They are the kind of players who should get at least 5 tests and 10 one dayers to showcase talent. Others in line like Rahane and Tiwary should be permanently playing for India now. Finally PLEASE sack Fletcher and get someone like Ganguly as the coach.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:08 GMT

This sums up why Dhoni should be sacked from captaincy and from the team. His priority is ODI and not test cricket. Bring on Saha as wicketkeeper, Kohli as captain ( a risk like Graeme Smith's captaincy was), Gambhir replaced by Rahane, Manoj Tiwary/ Rohit Sharma the number six, Ashwin plays as allrounder, two pacers Dinda and Yadav. Then we have a balanced team for the tests.

POSTED BY
SpeedCricketThrills
on | December 17, 2012, 17:08 GMT

Get a life, Mr Dhoni! You are comparing this to WC2007, where a freak win by Bangladesh and a stupid format cost us a place in QF? This series loss happened because England played to their strengths, understand our weaknesses and knew how to systematically grind India to dust. The whole country was watching Team India slide. In WC2007, In dia lost in 50 overs with very little time to strike back. Here, each match had 5 days, 90 overs each and no limitations of an ODI for India to recover and strike back. Where di that happen? Why didn't that happen? I think Dhoni's shelf life as a captain is clearly over. We need a captain who will find ways to reconcile, not rationalize a humiliating loss.

POSTED BY
dmqi
on | December 17, 2012, 17:07 GMT

How about a 2 test series with Bangladesh after the West Indies series, Bangladesh has a fair chance with India to draw at least, What Shewag thinks? Washigton DC.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:07 GMT

The worrying thing here is Dhoni's reluctance to play budding fast bowlers in the final 11. The selectors had taken a chance by roping in 2 young fast bowlers in Dinda and Awana and what Dhoni did was let them warm benches.... Bench Strength... next year south africa will give another whitewash to complete the whitewash of india outside the subcontinent

POSTED BY
Rahulbose
on | December 17, 2012, 17:05 GMT

India are the new West Indies, they have fallen in terminal decline. Dhoni's point about youngsters is correct, only problem is that the next generation will be T20 specialists. West Indies saw this happen after 95-96 when suddenly the talent was no longer there.

POSTED BY
jerryman
on | December 17, 2012, 17:05 GMT

For survivor fans - India were totally outplayed , outwitted and paid the penalty. Thankfully the games were in India , so no excuses . time to go back to the drawing board .. i think at least 5 players in the current team must be eliminated . tough choice for selectors .. Starting with Tendulkar -he must be permanently rested for tests and saved for the world cup.. bring in the younger players Tiwary ,rahane . senior players like shewag, gambir should also call it a day .. new captainct needed in the Test side as well , feel Dhoni is jaded now.. his excuses still do amaze me.. His new book 1001 excuses after defeat will be a best seller and should be mandatory reading for all cricket captains worldwide.. Get started now , the time has come for change .. it is now inevitable .. all the best to the gutsy selectors

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 17:01 GMT

Another thing which was striking was dhoni at the post match presentation saying something like the contest was between the top sides. I wonder how that rating was reached at. England and India had dreadful years (barring thrashing weaker oppositions) and are nowhere in the top both of them having each been whitewashed recently. South Africa, Australia, Pakistan and perhaps even Sri Lanka have not xperienced the lows reached by both of them. However England can rightly claim an excellent end to this dreadful year while India is still to realise it is not a "top team" by any standards. Lot of hard work and self appraisal required by them to reach close to top

POSTED BY
East_West
on | December 17, 2012, 16:58 GMT

2007 Worldcup loss, 4-0 Australia, 4-0 England...now lost at home! Do these indian cricketers love excuses OR what?? Just few days back, Dhoni said "Indian do well when they are pushed against the wall", LOL! So when they were 3-0 Against Austalia/England, "that was not pushing against the wall"", what a pathetic state we are in! What was Sachin's contribution to this series?? What was Gambhir's contribution in this series when he mentioned that "We should have rank turners? what was Viru's contribtuion when he gave an excuse of "we also won 2-0 or 4-0" ...the list goes on! Why can't we Indians think like Aussies! we were #! in tests, but we never showed that we belonged there..no killing instinct when we played as #1 in tests! this tells that we are NO GOOD cricketing team! Sid, hope you publish my comments on these "Spineless cricket Team" Dhoni should never step into Tests, Bring Badri, Mukund for Gambhir/Viry, Rahane, and Tiwari....all this young blood should come in!!!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:56 GMT

Mr Dhoni...2007 was not a crisis situation. May be you don't understand what is crisis. I think MSD has lost his mind..first he blames only batsmen and bowlers, forgets the spinners who bowled 80% overs and were definitely worse than English spinners. And now he compares 10 test loss to 2 ODI losses 5 years back.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:54 GMT

This guy is responding to the comment by Rahul Dravid earlier, I think. Shame, if so! He's justifying the Unjustifiable, and wel, If that so, this team including Dhoni is determined to show the Indian fans, something worse-worse than 2007!

POSTED BY
astopal
on | December 17, 2012, 16:53 GMT

Hahaha from bad to worse.
Earlier everyone used to wonder what does this guy think , unconventional and all that jazz. But now we realize that it was those stalwarts who were making this team win in all conditions and all formats.
After those seniors are gone this guy is totally exposed , and now we don't need to ponder upon how does his brain work, because well he does not have one.
Comparing a measly WC loss with the disaster you are sitting upon. This clearly shows how much this guy thinks of and respects test cricket. Now some t-20's will be aired in short times coupled with some odi ag pak and this one trick pony will claim all is well.
This comment is a disgrace to test cricket and Indian cricket. CAPTAINNOTSOKOOL don't dare call the fans " Tom, Dick and Harry" its because of us you are able to rake in those millions.
If he is allowed to continue he will take Indian cricket back to 50's . He has already put us back to 70's. ( Dear Cricinfo editors i hope this is published :)

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:47 GMT

england deserve this win . compton, cook, bell and all players did well. i back up dhoni, because he did his job previously. but for the past one year he feels unlucky also without any support from his teammates. sachin has to thick about his future now. sehwag has to play some ranji matches.

POSTED BY
pratit
on | December 17, 2012, 16:46 GMT

This is easily worse than 2007 world cup. Dhoni is saying as he was not the captain in 2007

POSTED BY
zig1
on | December 17, 2012, 16:43 GMT

Dhoni has started to find excuses instead of plainly accept the fact that this is the lowest point in Indian cricket in recent times . Whats more bemusing is most of the time he doesnt acknowledge the fact that the opposition played better cricket (rare occassion here he has praised England's bowlers). He says not to look at the wickets column to know how good a bowler one is, then i wonder how does he plan to win test matches.

POSTED BY
xrocks
on | December 17, 2012, 16:42 GMT

Fletcher should go immediately.Dhoni,Viru n Gauti should be dropped.Sachin should retire....But none of this will happen unless the board changes...

POSTED BY
suvash1
on | December 17, 2012, 16:40 GMT

"As you sow, so shall you reap". There can be no better fitting example to this proverb than the expected show by Dhoni's test brigades. Test is all about sound technique, character, patience and discipline. When you have a captain with as flawed technique as his, you are bound to suffer this humiliation. And a good cricketing brain knows that, in test, a potent bowling attack is more important than a great batting prowess. How many test matches did India win despite having the arguably best batting line up in the previous decade, also taking into consideration an incredibly large number of centuries scored by Sachin and co, I guess not many. You need bowlers who are capable of troubling the best of batsmen and capable of taking 20 wickets in every sort of tracks. I guess India would have won more matches than Australia the previous decade but for their unbelievably unreliable bowling line up. India should focus on grooming quality bowlers who can win matches for them on their own....

POSTED BY
jrben
on | December 17, 2012, 16:36 GMT

Crisis 'nowhere close to 2007 World Cup loss' ? Do we need any further evidence to realise how deluded this man has become? Against major test playing nations since World Cup 2011 you have lost, no scratch that, been hammered out of sight in 10 matches have won only 1. Not so long ago we were the number 1 team in test cricket. Now we are sliding so fast that very soon we will saying hello to penguins in the south pole. If he cannot even begin to understand the dire state our test cricket is currently in then he is not fit to continue as captain.

POSTED BY
Dilruksh
on | December 17, 2012, 16:35 GMT

how can u compare this with the world cup?????ipl will be soon banned no doubt its ruining test cricket

POSTED BY
Htc-Android
on | December 17, 2012, 16:31 GMT

Its time to take indias test status away and focus on developing ireland as a test cricketing nation. They have shown a lot of promise. every knows indias inability to play in bouncy and seaming wickets. It is now evident that they cant play on spin and flat wickets either. I am sure ireland will do better than them.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:30 GMT

i logged into facebook just to comment on some of Dhoni's statements...

1) not as bad as 2007 world cup - it shows where Dhoni's priorities are, he is a limited overs captain in his own mind
2) spinners - defending the indefensible. strike rates, no. of balls beating the bat, averages were all average for the Indian spinners. perhaps to mask his field settings and tactics
3) "drops - it happens" - he is unwilling to face up to awful catching and fielding

POSTED BY
Front-Foot-Lunge
on | December 17, 2012, 16:30 GMT

@Pras_Punter, Thank you for your kind words. Yes I am proud of the fact that England have the best seamer, best spinner and best opener in the world. Australia lack those, yes you're right, but you shouldn't write Aus off completely for when they tour India. England have shredded their confidence and ruined India's perception of themselves as 'home lions'. You clearly lack a decent spinner though and that may cost Australia. Warner may suit Indian pitches too, but as Hussey is the only one in that batting line up who could tackle spin, all the others are very much untested, you should move him up the order.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:30 GMT

al r taking abt the players why nt considering on coach ....aftr came of dis old coach only we r starting losing games before these coach entered on the team won da 2011 world cup nd no 1 rank in test cricket ............on da same team is dere where defect came in coaching r in players....lot of indian
nd foreigner coachs r there............... is there real need of 65 plus old coach deccan felcher to india if there real he was gud coach wht he did upto losing al da matchs

POSTED BY
rajattiwaari
on | December 17, 2012, 16:28 GMT

I am not angry , furious or disappointed after this loss. I am sad, very very sad. The WC 2007 first round exit was probably the last time i felt this way on IND's loss.I believe MSD is still the best man to lead IND. But he must take some very tough decisions to bring IND back on track. Gambhir is a quality player but his poor form has streched too far. Try abhinav mukund please. Umesh and Ishant must grow into world class fast bowlers to revitalise Indian cricket.Rahane at no.3 , pujara at no.4,kohli at no.5,tiwary at no.6 and msd himself at no.7. This is the way we need to go forward. Defeats do come your way but this crisis , bigger or not bigger than wc 2007 defeat,is a serious one.Hopefully we will learn our lessons and move on,towards a victorious future.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:25 GMT

Sack Dhoni, Tendulkar, Zaheer, Sehwag. Ask Ashwin to get coached by Muralidharan, the greatest off spinner that we have living. Train and take good care of the yuong and upcoming fast bowlers. Try to groom some tall leg spinners who can really spin the ball (the taller ones get more bounce off the wicket). All of the international pitches are going to be motre standardized in future, and we will no longer have the "home team advantage" as before.

POSTED BY
Aravind_always
on | December 17, 2012, 16:25 GMT

He is the main reason for India's early exit from 2007 WC also..he score Zeroes in both the matches india lost

POSTED BY
CricketingStargazer
on | December 17, 2012, 16:22 GMT

@KishoreSharma Yes! And then I have also seen a post that suggested that actually it is T20 that matters because Test cricket is a dead format anyway. People have tended to misunderstand the criticisms of the IPL. The problem is not that people play it, it is that highly played T20 makes players with poor techniques into superstars based on how far they can biff the ball for 10 deliveries. Patience and technique go out of the window and everything turns into a search for big bucks. Over-exposure is already damaging T20 in England and there is some evidence that its star may be starting to wane in India too. It is quite possible to have T20 and Test cricket living together in harmony but, like not overdosing on Big Macs, you should not overdose on T20 either: it's fun, it brings in the crowds, but too much in your diet is worse than none at all :-).

POSTED BY
gangadincongo
on | December 17, 2012, 16:20 GMT

The first thing to do is get rid of dead wood. Bring in youngsters, even if we loose a bunch of series like other teams like Australia, Windies, NZ. SriLanka have done after they lost most of their stars.

It's a shame to keep on hearing that the Indians can't bat, field or bowl! This trick of doctored pitches does not work anymore let alone playing on bouncy tracks. Also get rid of this useless captain, a complete dork he is. Don't raise your expectation too much 'cause we know how things work in India, nothing will change and you will have the same crap to deal with.

POSTED BY
mautan
on | December 17, 2012, 16:18 GMT

Dhoni's sermon to all cricket fans seems to be...these are all youngsters, who are learning! What about Dhoni, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Sachin, Ashwin, Ishant, Ojha, Kohli... who all have played significant cricket. By the way Dravid was replaced by Pujara who was our best player..where did we lose? Dhoni is rediculous. Seems to be the king of excuses now. Every time he comes up with excuse..pitches, umpires, youngsters..anything will do. What about guys like Compton or Root who have hardly even been to India and still worked so hard to adapt? God save Indian cricket if Kohli becomes captain too...he is decent batsman ( not a potential great, by the way), but has attitude of a super duper star with hot temperament. Pujara ( not because he scored runs..) seems more of a sensible guy, but ike always in India, people will go for 'star' material. Whatever that means.

POSTED BY
Ravishankara
on | December 17, 2012, 16:17 GMT

Dhoni is an interesting man. Who can think of comparing 2007 World Cup to this Test series. He talks of Indian Team as inexperienced. Just do a man to man comparison. Let us accept the fact that we are no good.

POSTED BY
hampshirehog142
on | December 17, 2012, 16:16 GMT

Despite india being the largest cricket-playing country in the world and therefore expected to be one of the world's major forces in world cricket, it is odd to realise that Dhoni considers losing a 1-day tournament as a bigger issue than regularly losing at Test cricket. For all the ODis which have been played, how many stick in the memory? They are OK to watch sometimes but does anybody really care who wins them?

POSTED BY
vpk23
on | December 17, 2012, 16:16 GMT

What did you say Dhoni? Nowwhere near to 2007 ? Get your priorities right Mr. Captian?

POSTED BY
akshay_gambhir
on | December 17, 2012, 16:14 GMT

How can you even compare 2007 WC to this. It's not about the one series loss. Since 2011 WC our test performance has been poor, barring series against NZ and WIs. The 2007 WC was just two matches lost, here we have a test team in continuous decline with all departments failing one by one. Needless to say, Dhoni needs to go. But the worst part is that there isn't even a worthy replacement in the test team.

The axing of Zak gives me hope that this selection committee has the strength to take bold steps needed. At the end of the day, that's all we can do. Hope.

POSTED BY
siddhartha87
on | December 17, 2012, 16:07 GMT

SRT scored 112 runs at an average of 18.66..for last one year he has averaged only 23.8.He should be definitely dropped if he dont retire within a week.I mean common we know you are great ,but all the good things come to an end.And you are no exceptional.How long will he block a talent like Rahane?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:06 GMT

India are a declining team with their top stars retiring and going to retire. Won't be surprised if teams like Ireland and Bangladesh surpass you guys.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:04 GMT

2007 World Cup ouster was primarily because of one bad game vs Bangladesh...losing 0-8 away & 1-2 home in TESTS is definitely a lot worse!!!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:02 GMT

What's so special about this Indian team? since winning world cup, losing miserably to both England and Australia 8-0, knocked out of CB series, knocked out of Asia Cup losing to minnows Bangladesh hahaha now got beat 2-1 in your own grounds against England. Please invite teams like Zimbabwe and start from scratch because its not getting any better besides some odd wins here and there. There are plenty of good young prospects in India like Rahane and Unmukht give them a chance and see.

POSTED BY
Zahidsaltin
on | December 17, 2012, 16:02 GMT

Strange that he compares it to WC 2007. Test series to ODIs. I am happy he didnt name Hongkong sixers in this regard. Sehwag, Ghamir should be sacked as many think that they are playing games. Sehwag not even holding on to the catches. Tandulkar makes it one batsman less at a crucial spot but no one has guts to show him the door. Change of captain wont help as u need batsmen and bowlers who perform.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 16:01 GMT

The problem is not with cricketers but the problem lies with the team management and the think tank and the support staff. With a different coach and support staff the same team (with same captain) was the No. 1 side in the world but no sooner Fletcher came the slide began. If we compare the coaches of two sides we could see difference with andy flower, graham gooch, mushtaq ahmed and alan donald handling english camp, while we have that fat ass fletcher and joe dawes(an australian, whom perhaps even australians will not know) as a bowling coach. Now kirsten is coach of SOuth Africa and now they are the no. 1 side in world. We have to accept that Garry Kirsten was the best coach and Fletcher the worst, perhaps even worse than Greg Chappel. More than technical skills, team India requires mental conditioning as it seems that they do not believe that they can compete against good sides, leave aside wining. This is something that BCCI has to make a note of.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:58 GMT

Present Indian team is nt a test playing team.... As simple as dat. All thanks to our one and only IPL. Indian bowling.... No comments on dat.. Statistics just says it all..
Just feel pity fr all Indian cricket fans.. Worst home series played by India since decades.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:54 GMT

I do not understand why Dhoni referring to 2007 World Cup he was also the part of the team at that time. He should not deviate from his responsibilty. He is the captain and should accept the defeat with grace.All the time he is looking for excuses. He is selecting the squad with his own wish instead of merit. Look Ganguly when he toured Australia in 2003 the series was tied 1-1 in a four match series when Australia was unbeatable any where in the world.

POSTED BY
Greatest_Game
on | December 17, 2012, 15:54 GMT

Like many I was surprised when Gary Kirsten would not extend his coaching contract with India. It was not a question of money - the BCCI would have paid him far more than Cricket South Africa ever could. His stated reason was he needed time with his family, but he has been as busy as ever, touring with the Proteas.

Kirsten did not stay because he knew who held power over the BCCI and Indian Cricket, and could see the inevitable result. If the all powerful BCCI head and the Team Captain are also partners in a business enterprise that operates under the authority of the BCCI, then Indian International Cricket must ultimately become a tool to support the needs of that business enterprise. Every economics model would confirm this outcome.

Indian International Cricket is now simply a supporting brand of the IPL/CSK, and until the foxes are chased out of the hen-house, and order is restored, Indian fans should expect results no different from those they have seen during this series. QED

POSTED BY
undefined.rahulraj
on | December 17, 2012, 15:53 GMT

i think it was spin department that made the difference. In Mumbai, Panesar and Swann shared 19 wickets among themselves. Come on Captain Cool...Don't be silly. Start analyzing first. You force us to think beyond you in test cricket captaincy. Good luck..

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:52 GMT

This is time for selectors to take action selecting players in form and not for reputation.............if senior players just want to stick without inform it is better to kick them volunteerly .....better to bring down overconfident dhoni so that he wont repeat his foolish plan which worked in the past as luck.........

POSTED BY
Chait142
on | December 17, 2012, 15:51 GMT

Oh... so the worst is still to come!
Lets loose all of our next 12 matches!

But then again... Dhoni might turn up and say that its not as bad as Hiroshima.

POSTED BY
SamRoy
on | December 17, 2012, 15:49 GMT

Let's first give England its due. Both their spinners are very tight and bowl very few bad balls. Swann and Panesar bowl the occasional unplayable ball as well. They are better than their Indian counterparts by a long distance. Now let's come to India. Drop all senior players from test team. Dhoni can play only in the sub-continent as wicketkeeper. Retain only the juniors Pujara, Kohli, Ashwin, Ojha and only in Indian conditions Jadeja. Give test captaincy to either Ashwin or Kohli. Bring in Rahane, Rohit, Manoj Tiwary, Mandeep Singh, Parvinder Awana, Shami Ahmed and Harmeet Singh.

POSTED BY
Siddharth_zenox
on | December 17, 2012, 15:47 GMT

'nowhere close to 2007 World Cup loss' - Dhoni

Why should we even dwell in that past ? Why cant we start with "We have come to a point where we need to take a honest look at our team setup and DELIVER results"
If this goes one day Dhoni WILL say, "I wont the world cup and you ppl didnt aske me why? but why are you pointing fingers at me now ?"'
We need to rebuild a TEAM, PERIOD ! You may be a great leader when every team member are at his peak and you dont have to trouble anyone with any tactics or training. But now is the time to re-build and we need a leader to be honest about himself and his team and groom an Indian Team which will perform well! We DO NOT WANT THIS LETHARGY !!!!!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:46 GMT

Team India's in-fighting and senior player's attitude taking dig at captain or making joke with media must be stopped. In order to stop this BCCI must axe these players. MSD as captain has done fairly a good job of bringing the World Cup and also taking the Test Team to # 1 spot with Coach Gary Kristen. Today the same team has different reasons and ways to play and behave. Coach moved on  and SELECTORS please take a leaf from Coach Gary and apply the same. I find from team game it has now become one man show of Captain and Leader. Former Chief Selector who had heap of praises now is against the same person. Question is why then and now please check the top 3 whose contribution is worse than last 3 or tailenders. It is now the time to revive and bring some young legs into the team.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:45 GMT

frankly its getting sickeningly like listening to a old tape re-running....listening to dhoni...his shelf life is up...india needs a new captain with new ideas..say kholi...he likes responsibility...give him ago...and build around him and pujara...if its rebuilding...build it earnestly!

POSTED BY
nasersid
on | December 17, 2012, 15:45 GMT

My post is in humble response to Big_Poppa who has several excuses about Indians being vegetarians can't produce fast bowlers. Where are quality spinners atleast? You had Kumble and Harbhajan who were one of the better spinners in the world but now why this drought? The answer is simple, too much hero worshipping of the batsmen alone. No kid grows thinking becomming a fast bowler. Everyone wants to be batsman like sachin. This mindset has destroyed India's bowling development at every level. The sooner India realizes that it's bowlers who wins matches not batsmen alone, the better the future development will be. Selfish batsmen like sachin(In current phase) wants to hang on to his past glory and continue to be the so called God, is devastating for future talent. Make way for youngsters and focus in creating a sachin in bowling department then you'll see how your cricket prospers.

POSTED BY
KishoreSharma
on | December 17, 2012, 15:40 GMT

In 2007 World Cup, we lost 2 one day internationals (to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) and were knocked out of the World Cup. If this is worse than being whitewashed 4-0 in 2 test series in England and Australia and losing the home sreies 2-1 to England, than something is very wrong with the thinking and priorities of Dhoni. This should confirm that he has little respect for test cricket - he has to go !

POSTED BY
cricket_lover1
on | December 17, 2012, 15:37 GMT

Congratulations!! England...They really deserved to win this test series..they batted and bowled really well in these "Indian" conditions...India should learn from them...Big task ahead for India....

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:37 GMT

@nansid- i think u forgot that india got square turner pitch on 2nd match in kulata accordng to dhonis request..which start deir down fall after panesar took advantage on that pitch..india won 1st match on a flat wicket..so dnt scold pitches..problem is with ur incapable spinners

POSTED BY
starincricket
on | December 17, 2012, 15:36 GMT

its been 20 years that am hearing india does not have a FAST bowler since my childhood.

Why cant india train youngsters to become a world class fast bowler from under19 player levels itself. BCCI could have send them to foreign conditions to train them from teen age itself. To get used of fast track pitches.. also they could have made pitches in india which helps fast bowling.. when medium fast changed to fast medium or fast

Why cant indian bowlers bowl more than 135 , 140 consistently.. are we lacking of what?

On whole india , if we could not produce a one good FAST bowler all those years.. it seems something really missing..

And i agree as dhoni said.. seniors like sachin,sehwag,dhoni,gauti should back youngsters with more responsibility on their shoulders till youngsters to perform consistently on all departments.. which just not happened this sereis.. thats the cause of this defeat.. i really did not see much from these seniors .. they should be knowing whats their team!!!

POSTED BY
cricket_lover1
on | December 17, 2012, 15:35 GMT

India needs to realize that they need good test bowlers who are capable of taking 20 wickets on any kind of surface...as simple as that..else these series losses will go on and on...SHAME FOR INDIA..

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:27 GMT

Why cant Mr.Dhoni be graceful in admitting his/team's failures rather than trying to find solace,by comparing 2007 wc loss was more painful than this?
That clearly shows,how much capable is dhoni for tests.You cant compare donkeys and monkeys.Dont compare tests with ODIs.Look at your own performance as a captain/batsman/keeper,before you could find the mistakes of the team.After a string of continuous utter failures in tests abroad,its not too much of an expectation to win home series,if not a white wash.Dhone with his lacklustre performance should introspect first on what went wrong,instead of pointing fingers at others.He was part of the team that lost 2007 wc,although he was not a captain.He should know it very well that captain can be as good or as bad as the team.when you take the credit for the team wins,you should be matured enuf to take the blame on yourself,which is not possible for some1 like dhoni,who does not have the habit of acknowledging others,especially seniors in tea

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:24 GMT

dhoni started his captaincy career so sucessfully;even at that time he did not did anything extraordinary,but then alsi the whole nation praised him........
now he is falling like ninepins;even now he has not done anything worse to make india defeat,although he has not done any thing extraordinary ....... but then also the whole nation is putting blame on him...
now at this stage if there is anyone who could get india back its no one else except him with the cool mindset and huge heart.......

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 15:23 GMT

@CandidIndian - agree with you. As long as our management is biased, we see no good cricket. Talented folks should get place irrespective of state or zone. Captain should be changed. Record makers should retire. Bowlers did decent job, its batsman who failed.

POSTED BY
yorkshirematt
on | December 17, 2012, 15:19 GMT

And therein lies India's problem. Comparing a test series defeat to an ODI tournament. Shows where their priorities lie

POSTED BY
Nemesis76
on | December 17, 2012, 15:16 GMT

The difference and the reasons for India being in the hole they are can't be anymore obvious than Dhoni's remarks...2007 World Cup?! Wow...just gave up 28 year old bragging rights, 8-0 defeats away and still doesn't feel it is as bad as that!!! :-) outstanding. Cook on the other hand comparing this to Ashes triumph. There you go...that's the difference in a nutshell. Well played England!! Good luck with the rehab India (if you wake up to the fact that there is a problem!)

POSTED BY
Nish_US
on | December 17, 2012, 15:15 GMT

Foolish to compare this to 2007 worldcup loss - Dhoni should be shown the door just for this single comment -

How can you compare a test loss at home, which has been the strengh for the last three decades, to a worldcup loss that you won only once.

And to compare test loss to a one-day loss... sorry Dhoni - you do not seem to respect TESTS.

Time for India to select three different teams for the three different formats - and if you play IPL or 20-20 in the last three years - then sorry no place in tests

POSTED BY
Nish_US
on | December 17, 2012, 15:13 GMT

Its the lack of effort and the dare to try attacking fields or score runs quickly that hurts...

Would have taken a 3-1 defeat if I saw the intent and effort, than the placid defensive 2-1 result

POSTED BY
Nish_US
on | December 17, 2012, 15:10 GMT

Living in US, spent the whole month sleepless watching the tests...only to see India/Dhoni not even try to win -

Did not see a Duplessis like innings that saved a test match, Joe root's kind of celebration on reaching a 50 on debut under such circumstances or a Clarke like declaration (declaring at 450 to force a win)...

Dhoni steps out or not.. I guess its time for me to retire from watching Indian cricket....had a good 25 year run

POSTED BY
Ha8rick
on | December 17, 2012, 15:06 GMT

Dhoni should opt out of Test Cricket and focus on One Day & T20 cricket only.

Sachin needs to do the same. If you don't want to quit cricket, cut down on the longer version of the game. I think he is hanging around to increase his run tally and take it to a spot where the record will stay intact for a LONG time. Very selfish of him. Stick to One Day cricket man. Give the youngsters chances. you are ruining their careers.

BCCI needs to be under new management. These selectors are way too partial.

POSTED BY
Nish_US
on | December 17, 2012, 15:06 GMT

Defensive fields, no men in the catching areas, no spinner tried to bowl in the rough, no field placements/strategies -

so just with the defensive fields and running through overs - Dhoni thought he would get 10 Eng wickets.

POSTED BY
z0mbiezom
on | December 17, 2012, 15:01 GMT

losing 8 tests away in a row, followed by a home series loss to england....sorry MS, this is much worse than getting knocked out of a 50 over world cup....

POSTED BY
Mashq
on | December 17, 2012, 14:59 GMT

Wait guys we will find our mud tigers roar again when the head less neighbouring team will play in india. Every body will get a chance to showcase thier talent(Non existing) remember Dhoni is alos the product of similar circumstances.

POSTED BY
jamfai
on | December 17, 2012, 14:56 GMT

I don't understand. Why did the 2007 world cup loss hurt so much? Thinking of all the formats, the 50 over format would be the first to go! Purists love test cricket , and if losing 2-1 to England in India doesn't hurt i don't know what will.
It's Dhoni's attitude that hurts Cricket India.

How long will this World cup 2011 hangover last? BCCI the richest, strongest and the weakest. I have got news for you. DRS stands for DHONI REALLY SUCKS, hence BCCI doesn't want to sign up for you. Need i say more?

POSTED BY
Herath-UK
on | December 17, 2012, 14:55 GMT

India is facing a vaccum as much as the Sri Lankans with an expected exodus of senior men in the teams.I do not think both boards handled the issue very well though we have to admit it is not a simple task to replace the ageing stars overnight specially because the young ones have not really put their hands up.
Ranil Herath - Kent

POSTED BY
SixoverSlips
on | December 17, 2012, 14:55 GMT

I would add spin bowling is also a problem. In the land of spinners, we don't have a top leg spinner. No good off-spinner. Ohja is a very good left-arm spinner. But he is good enough only to be the fourth best bowler in a good Test side. Yet, he has been the best bowler in the Indian team.

After Kumble retired, India have terribly lacked a world class spinner. Harbhajan was good. But he has been out of form for a long time.

I would actually say batting is the least of India's problem, even though it is a problem. But where are good pace bowlers? Good spinners? Why did it take so long for Dhoni to play an inning worth value in Tests? In that sense, batting-wicketkeepers have also been s big problem.

It is nothing to be ashamed of. But it is time to address the situation rationally. Look to build a team. By that I don't mean fire all oldies. But it should be a blend of both.

POSTED BY
ProdigyA
on | December 17, 2012, 14:55 GMT

The writing was pretty clear on the wall but nobody dared to read it. We have been loosing very very bad to its better to lose with youngsters. If i dont see the below changes for next Test, il be gutted to say the least. Dhoni, Sehwag, Sachin, Zak, Piyush out from the Test squad and GG for captain.

POSTED BY
speed99yamaha
on | December 17, 2012, 14:54 GMT

helo BCCI old selection panel ppl take strong decision....please...dt talk past records...please con side future and future world cup...still we have time to ready for that ....give chance to youngster...they r wait for call....if doesn't take...sure...next world cup we lost....

POSTED BY
rockstar0077
on | December 17, 2012, 14:54 GMT

Useless comments by Dhoni. First of all he doesn't fit into test team, how can he lead the team when he doesn't fit into the team. He is the one who made many statements in the past, the one like if a player is not performing well he should be axed from team no matter how senior he is(referring to Ganguly and Dravid in one days). What about him in tests? Day by day he is lacking leadership skills. Why ask for day turners from day one? No matter which team we are facing the pitches should be same. Shall we make day one bouncers if Bangladesh comes to play india since they are traditionally slow pitch players. Please fire Dhoni. England or Australia didn't make any special pitches for India, they used their traditional pitches.

POSTED BY
DMcric
on | December 17, 2012, 14:54 GMT

So long as businessmen and politicians keep running sports boards in India, one can't expect anything more than this. I would be pleasantly surprised if Dhoni gets dropped from the test side, not only as a captain but also as a player. However, this seems like a dream as long as Srinivasan is the BCCI president. Also, great going SRT - IPL is coming soon - Who are we kidding - its all about brand value and millions for IPL team owners.

Dear Badri, Rahane and Tiwary - you should probably think of immigrating to some other cricket playing country - Short pitch bunnies like Raina and Jadeja will keep getting chances till Dhoni-Srinivasan jodi is there, which seems like never ending story. I starting to wonder who will be next - may be Anirudh Srikanth in test side - after all K. Srikanth kept his promise of keeping Dhoni in the team.

POSTED BY
CandidIndian
on | December 17, 2012, 14:53 GMT

Yeah and more tough time to come,because its clear after post match statement by Dhoni that Sir Ravindra Jadeja will be permanent no 6 now.Now that Sachin will retire and Sehwag will be axed ,we will see Vijay and Raina replacing them.Test cricket has turned into a big joke in our country.

POSTED BY
nansid99
on | December 17, 2012, 14:52 GMT

With the home team trailing 2-1, pitches would have been prepared to suit them in any country. Only in India, some big headed idiots like Mukherjees prepare dead wickets. They should have given the Indian team a square turner so that with the 4 spinners (or at least 3, as I do not count Jadega as a cricker even) it could have been different. The pitch was just like any Ranji Trophy pitch where in 4 days local teams score in excess of 600. Please accept the DRS system.

Congratulations to England, in particular to players like Compton (who very nicely adjusted to the pitches in India).

POSTED BY
Ankush_J
on | December 17, 2012, 14:51 GMT

Dont worry guyz,move on..we have to loose the australia series also..big task ahead but make sure we have to loose by a innings or 10 wickets..best of luck

POSTED BY
K.A.K
on | December 17, 2012, 14:50 GMT

Rebuilding the team frtom ground up is now long overdue. Ghambir, Tendulkar and Sehwag should move on.

POSTED BY
Vnott
on | December 17, 2012, 14:49 GMT

Good opportunity to shake things up. Sack Fletcher. Make Virat Captain and Pujara vice captain. Let the team have Rahane, Gambhir as openers, Pujara, Sehwag, Virat in the middle order, No: 6 is still wide open with older contenders like Yuvraj, Kaif, Badri and some younger ones Raina, Rohit Sharma- but none standing up consistently. So you could even have Ashwin as all rounder @ 6 may not be a bad option. Saha as keeper at 7, 3 seamers among Umesh Yadav, Pankaj Singh, Awana, Dinda, Sreesanth, Shami Ahmed and Ishant and 1 spinner among Ojha, Chawla, Jadeja, Mishra ( not too many options here but 3 seamers and Ojha along with Ashwin should do) - In course of the next 12 months, we will be able to stand up and fight and start to win... Irrespective of this reverse, we should be able to win at home over the next 12 months many tests and build the nucleus, confidence to do well overseas as well. For Dhoni his best bet is to play as a player in One day and T-20.

POSTED BY
speed99yamaha
on | December 17, 2012, 14:46 GMT

so many youngster ready to prove their talent....please former old selection panel ppl please consider future indian cricket also....give to them chance......please retain back world number 1 again..in test cricket..

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:44 GMT

Youngsters? who? apart from pujara (who was fantastic in the series btw) i think everybody has had a decent exposure..kohli is no newbie to test cricket..gambhir, sehwag, tendulkar, dhoni, yuvraj, khan..this is a young team for you? has young been redefined? MS please be bold enough to accept that your team was pathetic out in the field.. and for once say it.IPL is the culprit.. do u knw what rebuilding is? rebuilding is what dada did.. u got a readymade team.. what happend to wasim jaffer? boy he was a lot better than gambhir (selfish and arrogant)..problem is our batting MS..God knows wat prompted you to oo in with 4 spinners..u shud have given awana or dinda a chance..u made them carry sweat towels and drinks..is that how rebuilding works? sheesh.. its all so wrong..we middle class people get frustrated at work..are tired and sorry about the corruption..cricket is the only respite for a few..might have to reconsider that now..hell with you and your pathetic charade

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:40 GMT

Some people are still praising sachin..open your eyes...

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:39 GMT

Dhoni has rightly pointed out the team is going through a transition phase with the likes of Dravids and Kumbles retiring. Another thing to note before arguing abt the 28yrs figure is that non-asian countries have matured over the years and now play spin better and have good spinning options.
India's old test record was based on deteriorating tracks with westerns having no idea whatsover of the spin.

Piyush chawla can emulate An Ajmal if given enough opportunites
Pujara can do an Amla
Kohli is of the same class as Kallis (except for the allround)

I believe that India will regain Test ranking of 1 under dhoni only in next 1 yr

POSTED BY
bumsonseats
on | December 17, 2012, 14:39 GMT

in a test series you would like to think that 11 guys take on 11 guys over a 4 series and may the best team win.what we got was an organization that went out of its way to to change those odd, by unscrupulous means. i have never seen a set of administrators go to such lengths to make an away teams acclimation to pitches and lack of opponents strengths playing the tourists.they even fished out a problem with england development squad that could have been sorted out by a phone call. were india poor yes, were england good, good enough.at the start of the tour i said i we win the tosses we could be competitive. well we won1, but we found that our spinners were better, our pace bowlers were better and our batting, we could only get one of our best pace bowlers on the park for 1 test. can we play spin? well we seem to be able to play this spin.to all the indian posters who said we would struggle to play spin nice to prove you wrong.

POSTED BY
here2rock
on | December 17, 2012, 14:39 GMT

"We are going through a tough time - Dhoni", well this is understatement of the year! Is that suppose to comfort the Indian fans?

POSTED BY
bobmartin
on | December 17, 2012, 14:38 GMT

Just a short message to those who are calling for the head of India's "English" coach. Agreed he did coach England, but he is not English, he's Zimbabwean

POSTED BY
rahul0486
on | December 17, 2012, 14:36 GMT

we need to realize India is going through a transition...they might even lose to Australia in 3 months time...but they have the ability to bounce back and Iam sure they will...the loss has done only good for them...the problem is we are not good at accepting defeats...English who are now jumping over their team's win were an embarrassment to test cricket not such a long ago...but they improved their work ethics and have become a very good side... U wud c a different team against Australia for sure...but a lot of thinking has to go to put the team back on track...MS is still a captain u cn back coz we really don't hv another captain in the making...if in form, this team is still a good one...Congrats to the English side...they thoroughly outplayed the Indians and deserve to win...

POSTED BY
here2rock
on | December 17, 2012, 14:35 GMT

Same old story from Dhoni that we were not good enough, well as a supporter that is not good enough. If the captain does not believe in the crew for smooth sailing then how the hell crew is supposed to perform? We do not need Dhoni or Duncan Fletcher.

POSTED BY
xrocks
on | December 17, 2012, 14:33 GMT

When KP and Cook can score big hundreds in Mumbai, how can it be termed a tough pitch? All Our Batsmen were too bad except Pujara. Kohli scored a 100 on this dead pitch and it was a complete selfish inning.I don't want Kohli to be the next captain due to his very bad attitude as every one saw what he mouthed after his century.Sack Fletcher and Dhoni first.Greedy Sachin should retire immediately.Change all the fast bowlers and please throw Ishant Sharma away who is just an ordinary bowler.Pick spinners who can spin and not go through the overs.Only a radical change will do any good for Indian cricket.If India beats Pakistan in the upcoming series, most of us will forget all these and that's what BCCI needs.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:32 GMT

All credit must be given to England who at the moment are playing their game like champions.T his is no longer a side that only wins on home turf, but outside as well. They proved it in Abu dhabhi now in India. At the moment Asian teams rely heavily on spinners, there needs to be a camp set up just for fast bowlers and if there is an example needed then look no further than james Anderson, Finn, morne morkel, kemar roach, Fidel Edwards, Dale styne,phillander. Due to the recent rule changes in the icc the bowlers have it tough, which is why they deserve to be mentioned even more.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:31 GMT

It's not surprising that Dhoni sees failure in a ODI tournament as a bigger deal than the total collapse of Indian Test cricket under his watch. I suppose we should be glad he didn't cite a Chennai Super Kings loss as his 'lowest point.' No matter. He will continue to be protected by his owner Srinivasan, and the fiasco will continue.

POSTED BY
Eleil
on | December 17, 2012, 14:31 GMT

I think Dhoni should just say "We failed in each department, and we are inferior team to England". End of story. Cut the crap of Juniors and Seniors. How come Joe Root put his hand up in his debut. All the so called juniors have played Ranji trophy in these wickets and they are not alien to these conditions. Except Ojah every Indian spinner bowled at least one bad ball an over and as for fielding we can have a pillar put in the slip if the slip fielder is not going to crouch down and hold catches. Dhoni is out of ideas in the test level and he should be replaced in Tests. If we are in rebuilding phase might as well rebuild from the scratch with replacements for Dhoni, Sachin and Shewag.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:30 GMT

Yeah 2 years of tough time.. It's rather long don't you think. When do you think to get over the test dilemma dhoni?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:30 GMT

What about bowlers who could take only 4 English wickets in two full days.Agreed batsmen failed miserably but bowlers were no less culprits. I fail to understand how the pitch became benign when English batsmen were batting and turned into mine field when the turn of India came for batting.The irony is that our commentators and the entire team seem to agree to this. The crux of the matter is that team India has forgotten to play good cricket and need to be dumped lock, stock and barrel. An entirely new team should be formed to play Pakistan(though I am not favour of the visit) and Australia. If this does not happen, the present team will lose every match to be played in future. Iss team ko chullu bhar pani mein doob marna chahiye.

It is attitude...remember the comments from Pujara after first test...? "England batting is fragile"......one double century does not warrant a comment like that..it showed no one expected a fight back from england...and when they got it...in truck loads....they had no answer...

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:27 GMT

Change the captain change the game. I think Dhoni can not unit Indian team anymore. So he should be changed. Kohli is too young so gautam deservs captaincy.If someone oppose this saying that he is not performing well, then i object that why Dhoni is captain, he is performing even worse than gautam.

POSTED BY
abidsalim
on | December 17, 2012, 14:26 GMT

Same old comments from Dhoni. Some things never change, some people never learn.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:26 GMT

india lost captain has to go...as simple as that

POSTED BY
SaintJohn
on | December 17, 2012, 14:22 GMT

How can India even think of winning a test series with 120 km pace bowlers. look at Pakistan they defeated same England team last year with two fast and two spin bowlers. Even the club level fast bowlers in Pakistan can bowl over 140 km.
I would suggest that India should suspend their test status like Zimbabwe did few years ago and just concentrate on IPL and ODi's.

POSTED BY
PrasPunter
on | December 17, 2012, 14:21 GMT

@ Front-Foot-Lunge, i got to give it to you this time - yes Aus is not doing
good - and i reckon we wouldn't be half as effective as you were in india given where
we are without a solid top order, the best seam bowler in the world and two
highly effective spinners - but at-least, we put up a decent show against
SA. In saying that, my respect for your team has gone up several notches
after what you have done in india. Fantastic performance, that.
Congratulations !! Just hope that at the end of test #4 against india next year ,
we celebrate as you did - but that is just a hope.

POSTED BY
Nampally
on | December 17, 2012, 14:21 GMT

It is not just the irresponsible Batting but what can you do with the weakest Bowling in the World ? That is my Main question to Dhoni, BCCI & the squad Selectors. These problems existed for over 5 years with complete lack of effort to improve them from BCCI.Not only that it is "mere refusal to accept this fact" which makes it impossible to eliminate these deficiencies. BCCI need to spend most of its $40 million profits from last year to address this from the ground level to see "India rise from Dust"- It is as bad as that, Mr. Dhoni! Rome was not built in a Day- as we often say.Similarly a Team does not degenerate to such low level overnight. It is the years of neglect + burying your head in the sand. Firstly,BCCI should be headed by a guy well versed in Cricket NOT in Economics. "Turner pitches" are useless unless you have players to perform miracles on it. Pick talented youngsters on merit & coach them to Test standards,focusing on Commitment +Accountability. Winning results Follow!

POSTED BY
TRAM
on | December 17, 2012, 14:19 GMT

Dhoni should be fired, not because he lost but because he never tried.

POSTED BY
stumpedlloyd
on | December 17, 2012, 14:19 GMT

Oh, current Indian fans - this coming from someone who started following and supporting India from the days of Pataudi and Wadekar - all that bravado about England getting thrashed in India turned out to be for naught. India gets walloped in England and Australia, and their only riposte, if memory serves, was the likes of Dhoni, Kohli and Gambhir (and Indian fans) insisting that when England comes to India, Cook and Co. would suffer ignominiously on spinning tracks because that's what Dhoni and Co. were going to make sure the groundsmen created. How'd that turn out? The sad thing is that, chances are, this humiliating - because that's exactly what this is - series loss won't matter much because India could win the ODI and T20 series and the fans (and the players) will once again yell about Indian cricket supremacy. But none of that will hide the fact that India took a hiding and has some mediocre players in its midst and a cricket board that refuses to acknowledge its shortcomings.

POSTED BY
wiseshah
on | December 17, 2012, 14:19 GMT

Question to shehwag: can india take 20 wickets?

POSTED BY
wolf777
on | December 17, 2012, 14:15 GMT

Well, if people like Chawlas were not given chances who is to blame?

POSTED BY
simpleguy2008
on | December 17, 2012, 14:14 GMT

Useless comments after losing they doesn't want to take any responsibility of losing the series and now i still request the board and the captain to show the exit doors to the players who are responsible for losing this series and please go for the UDRS .

POSTED BY
Front-Foot-Lunge
on | December 17, 2012, 14:14 GMT

So is Dhoni staying or going despite presiding over an English whitewash and getting thrashed in the 'Revenge' series?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:13 GMT

Dhoni praise to Jimmi Anderson is to imply that India's defeat was due to Zaheer Khan's lack of form. Why no praise to Cook? Cook lead England from the front contributing heavily and taking key tactical decision whereas Dhoni was just playing politics to ensure his safety in the team, and backdoor selection for his favorites like Jadejaa, Ishanth Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Piyusha chaula, RP Singh, Suresh Raina, and Yuvraj Singh.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:09 GMT

I think Dhoni is too obsessed with insisting on conditions playing roles in the outcomes of games. This goes way back to even before the match against Aussies in the t20 world cup. Although conditions are important, yet one sold focus more on competing with what you are given with and improving on your weaknesses against conditions. After all rain and a wet outfield or a better square post-rain (as happened in that t 20 match as per dhoni) grassy pitches abroad, hard batting pitches in seaming conditions etc etc are all part and parcel of the beautiful game of cricket. If Dravid could bat well in England in 2011 surely another batsman or two performing the way he was or some better bowling in those conditions could have helped the end result in England of a whitewash. Teams intent on blaming or advocating certain conditions are bound to have a negative effect on their game and a defensive mindset. Hopefully, a wider introspect of the defeats culminating in this home loss will follow.

POSTED BY
muneeb2012
on | December 17, 2012, 14:06 GMT

to all indians.....dont get dejected....teams get into far more worse situations but whats important is how they recover from them....just drop all seniors except tendulkar...you ppl still need him big time(as dravid said).... And you fans try to get a bit modest.... Situation can only improve from now on and i hope it gets better (but not before d end of pak series lol)

POSTED BY
Seanny
on | December 17, 2012, 14:04 GMT

its nt just un4tunate but sad as well to see such ridiculous marks nd comments against sachin, as if he's the sole factor for the loss......name 1 quality player who looks likely to replace him, nd wht bout other players, they 2 haven't been doing well, sehwag, zak, gg, ishant, ashwin, yuvraj, dhoni, all re to be blamed...just read a comment tht sach has occupied the sweetest batting spot in the team, FYI, he's earned it, nd i dnt need to xplain, as far as the indian test cricket is concerned, there u can see the diff b/w ganguly nd dhoni, the latter is pretty good tactician, but nt a leader, he's been a donkey so far who was leading a group of brave lions sometime back, proven by the current form of the indian cricket.....

POSTED BY
g-ng
on | December 17, 2012, 14:02 GMT

A note to Sachin....

Sachin, you were in Indian team when I started watching Cricket and you were the only reason I watched many of those matches. There are a lot of reasons I adore you.

1. Your batting looked so simple, elegant, graceful, dominant ..(can add many more adjectives)
2. Great bowlers seemed ordinary while bowling to you, ordinary bowlers seemed like school kids. The moment you get out, I could see the same bowler being lethal with ball spin, seam, swing, bounce etc.
3. You looked human in your nervous nineties and divine before and after that.
4. When a bowler is on top, I could see you taking him head on and mostly succeed to take all self confidence out of him.
5. After hitting one six of a spinner, I could feel you wanting to step out for the very next ball when all logic suggests you would defend it.

A genius like you will still find ways to score a century, but it was not only those centuries I loved. The image of Sachin I had is fading, please don't let it hapn

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:01 GMT

India were fantastic !! lol....sorry i am just being sarcastic !!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 14:00 GMT

I am not sure if anyone noticed.....last time England won a series against India was in 1984-1985 tour...and now they won in 2012-2013.....1st win against india came after India won the World Cup in 1983....and the second time they won is after India won it again in 2011....Next series win for England in India will be again after India being crowned as the world champs (2036 tour?....just for fun :P)

POSTED BY
Nutcutlet
on | December 17, 2012, 13:59 GMT

In the debris of defeat should be the seeds of a resurgence of India as a Test match power. Generals lose wars if they stick with old failed strategies, even if they succeeded once, years ago. Build from the bottom up. Make India a fine fielding side. Make fitness a prioirty. Allow the veterans to go, now. Australia will not be kind to SRT. Further head-shaking failures await him if he hangs on. Make Kohli captain (but lay it on the line that his behaviour has to be exemplary). Adopt DRS (it encourages good behaviour!) & learn to use it wisely. Ensure that no wicket like that at Nagpur should ever be seen again. Stop the mind games & focus on performances on the pitch. Imitate England, SA & Australia. They are all very professional, cohesive teams. India is a collection of individuals, somewhat factionalised. It'll be interesting to see what progress is made when Australia begin the next test for India: how much will have been learnt. The cricket world will be watching, rest assured.

POSTED BY
Narayan.Shastri
on | December 17, 2012, 13:59 GMT

Congratulations to the England team for successfully bursting the Indian cricket team's seemingly-impregnable 'home advantage' myth. Hope Indian cricket will have learnt a lesson and get more competitive in future.

POSTED BY
shashanksriv
on | December 17, 2012, 13:57 GMT

Its clearly the first innings batting failure that has brought down the performance of team India. In the last 21 tests since January 2011, India have won 6 tests, lost 10 and drawn 5. First innings average in the matches they have lost was 265 while in the matches they won was 400. In drawn matches it was 344. Clearly goes to show that the team needs responsible batting in first innings. The first six of India is really failing to click in and no substantial changes has been made. Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir have failed to make a big hundred during all this time and despite of that have been a part of this team continuously.They clearly need to be replaced by more responsible specialist test batsman.

POSTED BY
TRAM
on | December 17, 2012, 13:52 GMT

>>Of course we lost the series, but that always happens when two big sides are playing. <<< How can a team that lost 0-4 & 0-4 abroad and lost at their home grounds be "Big side"? Why wouldn't any one ask Dhoni to shutup? I hope this is his last test match and so it is for most others in the team.

POSTED BY
landl47
on | December 17, 2012, 13:50 GMT

Cpt. Meanster: I can't let you get away with that. You said here on Cricinfo: 'It goes without saying, India will win the test series 4-0'. You made numerous similar statements over the last year. To claim that you foresaw this result is just nonsense.

POSTED BY
anushuks
on | December 17, 2012, 13:50 GMT

Golden words - "Of course we lost the series, but that always happens when two big sides are playing." All losing captains of "any" game can can use this line. Great words from the "I won't run away from responsibility" captain and continue to lose every series because after all one team has to lose, so why not me.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 13:46 GMT

Fast bowlers!!! Did you play any? Give me a freaking break. You've now lost 10 out of 12 tests against England and Australia and you still bemoan the fact that a few key sessions didn't go our way, fast bowler(s) didn't bowl well, the pitches were this and that, there were a lot of positives and all. When will our team realise that there is something desperately wrong with it? When will it stop basking in it's past glories? There is something fundamentally wrong with our player's attitude. We are just not willing to accept our mistakes. Look at what England did after they lost the first test. They admitted they were wrong in not picking Panesar, they admitted they were not good enough, plain and simple. They didn't try to find excuses like our Dhoni does.

POSTED BY
jb633
on | December 17, 2012, 13:45 GMT

I see many Indian fans slating Fletcher/Dhoni here but if truth be told the problems go way beyond the "figureheads" and puppets of the BCCI. The IPL has effectively brought an end to the incentives of playing for India. I have been saying this for years that since the IPL has taken place players do not seem to hold the right to wear Indian colours in such high esteem. Just look at the attitude of Ghambir in the tour of Aus, I will never forget the "wait till you play us at home" comment. IMO at that precise moment the selectors should have called a team meeting and told the players in no uncertain terms that any comments made along those lines will lead to immediate dismissal from the team. I mean India has a problem with poverty and their idols, who are paid ludicrous sums of money, cannot treat their fans like that. They have to show spirit and pride in any game they play in. This Indian side so badly deserved the mauling they received in this series.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 13:42 GMT

The credit or success should not be to a single person. This is a team event. The entire teams responsible. With regard to SACHIN. He is a Legend. He must play with legends only and not with others.

POSTED BY
UAETigers
on | December 17, 2012, 13:41 GMT

Gambir was shouting before the tour to make rank turners and then taking revenge from ENG and AUS!!! As per the old school of thoughts, It's always good to play for your own victory rather then simply defeating someone!!

Dhoni and Team should take responsiblity and learn from the defeat, where on the earth Dhoni can see positive from this series?

Pujara playing on home ground and scoring big in first two tests and then failing, is this a positive sign?

Which bowlers bowled on the mark other then Ohja in first test? Did he rate Ashwin as test bowler?

POSTED BY
2.14istherunrate
on | December 17, 2012, 13:40 GMT

it was a case more England playing well than India playing badly. A few moments when India got away showed this. Mostly England did not let the cat out of the bag but snared their quarry properly. The indian top 3 is mostly an effective unit except for Gambhir's poor calling. Sachin is his own man and it is just that certain bowlers, such as Anderson and Monty have a knack of getting him out where others toil. Kohli is well regarded but not productive except in one innings and really the debating point is no.6. Dhoni himself would do the best job here, and I would suggest he give up the gloves and just bat. As one of the less impressive glovemen he could easily handover to a good keeper while Ashwin could bat 7. Here 4 spinners were 2 too many. Ashwin can bat and Ojha is the class act. I would suggest they can play two out of Ishant, Yadav and Zaheer who may yet have a bit in the tank. Do they really need to sack the side? Or do they need to learn how to field? The latter I suspect.

POSTED BY
g-ng
on | December 17, 2012, 13:36 GMT

This Indian team is in a state of transition. The era of fabulous middle order(Dravid, Sachin, VVS and Saurav) which provided stability to this team for over a decade is over. All this time, we loved Sehwag throwing his bat at everything and loved when it comes off. And when he fails the middle over ably took over the responsibility and delivered more often than not(which has been the case mostly in overseas test matches).

Should Sehwag continue to throw away his wicket with an inexperienced middle order? Probably Yes, because that's the way he scores and he has triple centuries to show. If that's the only way Sehwag can bat, is he the opening batsman India need at this time? It's not only about Sehwags wicket, when he gets out early in an innings to a rash shot, he expose others to a seaming, swinging hard new ball.

Also I don't think Gambhir is the second best opening batsman in India

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 13:36 GMT

The BCCI is to be blamed.
They never performed taking into consideration that their irresponsibility,is causing unhappiness & unpleasantness to millions of Indian cricket lovers.
The selection of the teams for test cricket,never gives cognance to performane recently. Shewag failed several times, they still persisted and made Dravid face the new ball within 2 /5 overs. Dhoni would not like to open the innings like Mr.Cook. The capability of OUR so called Batsmen dominated team has been stripped open when they faced strangulating close in fielding set by England.
As long as we continue with batsmen who does not possess sharp EYE and relexes,due to aging, the result will be same. Let us go for teams with youngsters/new blood & loose rather than seeing the failure of Shewag & Tendulkar and Gambir. With a better captain with the present bowlers, we could have won. The bowlers were giving their maximum. Stillthe bowling alone without a strategy & proper fielding will never win.

POSTED BY
jb633
on | December 17, 2012, 13:35 GMT

cont.. this home defeat should not cause any more anguish than the defeats away from home. The fact is that it should never be accepted that a country like India will accept defeats in any form of cricket. Sure everyone loses games but it was the manner of those defeats away from home that should have sent alarm bells ringing immediatley. The attitude and approach to test matches should be the same wherever you are playing and if you have the right attitude in conditions that favour your skills you will normally come out on top.
IMO this home series defeat is the product of a laxing attitude to test cricket that developed with the 0-8 away from home. And those defeats were not brought about by green tops or lavish swing etc as the Indian side of 07 were capable of winning a series in those very same conditions.
The BCCI have got to accept that it is either IPL or India. If they want the national side to do well they have got to change the IPL. The two are not compatible.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 13:30 GMT

atleast we used to win at home! when india lost in england and australia dhoni blamed the pitch. when we are losing here dhoni again blames the pitch. i have a suggestion. sack the selection committitee, sack THE BOARD PRESIDENT, sack dis talented players dwelling in dere past. sack the skipper and make him the curator of all the pitches! an finally give the young guys fair chances. and selectors stop representing zones.

POSTED BY
jb633
on | December 17, 2012, 13:30 GMT

The BCCI only have themselves to blame for the home series loss and the cracks should have been dealt with after the 2nd test on the England away tour rather than here. Our boys must be credited for this achievement though. To win a series in India is immensley difficult and they had to fight conditions in the first three test (batting second in all games). If the comments on these sites are any reflection of the attitude towards test cricket the BCCI have been treating test cricket disgracefully.
On the ENG/AUS tours it almost came across that it was acceptable to lose these tours because in their backyard nobody beats India. I mean that is a disgrace to simply give up trying to perform away from home. I remember watching India tour Aus in 04 and Eng in 07 and there was no complaints about conditions, pitches injuries etc they simply got on with things. Sure things were difficult but that is test cricket. No they lose a home series and it is the end of the world.

POSTED BY
TheCricketEmpireStrikesBack
on | December 17, 2012, 13:28 GMT

I have to agree with KP regarding this test match and series - I turned off 4 or 5 days (tests?) ago. All the tawdry "we are the best since the dawn of man" celebrations cannot hide the fact too many repeats of the sort of cricket played in this series will kill off Test match cricket for ever. Who is to blame? Cricket boards, curators, captains and players would be a good place to start looking. Cricket boards and curators need to put money and time into providing proper pitches and captains and players need to play attractive cricket ............... before it is too late.

POSTED BY
luvcricket_new_gen
on | December 17, 2012, 13:26 GMT

Embarrassing series loss for India. England by far the best of the two. Infact they are only next to SA. I foresee Ashes for England, Aus will be of no match in England. For India, time to learn some harsh lessons. Do not find excuses with pitches, umpires, past reputation and stop talking like a kid calling the series as 'revenge series', doctoring pitches to suit spinners. We proved we do not have batsmen to play quality spin, fast bowling and proved we do not have quality spinners, pacers to take 20 wickets and win matches. End of an era - Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman GONE and SRT to follow suit after Aus series, which is going to be painful to watch considering his awful form. Next gen needs lot of hard work and they should have a high work ethic to start with! Prepare hard before any series, just stop talking

POSTED BY
Sir.Ivor
on | December 17, 2012, 13:26 GMT

Apart from the advice given to the team players by many, the comment makers should learn some restraint in talking up India's chances. They were undercooked despite having one of the most respected and senior coaches in the world even if he has no powers in selection.I wish the comment makers would not use this forum for rabid comments. I hope India invest in the future without expecting too much all the time.There are many who look fine prospects like Jiwanjot Singh, Ankit Bawne, Shami Ahmed, A S Rajpoot,Ishwar Pandey, H S Sharath,Smit Patel, Harmit Singh and Shahbaaz Nadeem. So the scene is not as gloomy as made out. In 2000, when Tendulkar resigned from Captaincy, India was in the doldrums having lost in Australia 0-3 despite having a good team and later 0-2 at home to South Africa. Then Saurav Ganguly took over and the renaisscance started. This could happen again if the selectors show vision and courage to stick to a plan no matter what happens initially.

POSTED BY
Last_ride
on | December 17, 2012, 13:26 GMT

@Valavan dont be ridiculous Saffer fans have every right to bring Sa into this article.This is the worst Indian team in almost 20 years.The real problem is now a days winning in India isnt even considered a great achievement. We Saffers have drawn here twice. i also would like to add it is a pity that we wont be able play England Till 2015.James Anderson would be turned into a club bowler against Amla and Kallis.Anyway congratulations but please dont Gloat about it.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 13:25 GMT

I would like to remind Dhoni that it is not the batting but the Indian Bowling that needs a lot of improvement as they do not have bowlers that can take 20 wickets specially after lack of form of Bhaji and now Zaheer.

As for batting is concerned, Indian batting did not clicked because THE WALL is no more. it was the effect of Dravid that helped others to perform. Pujara did his best but for people like Kohli (his century is on a flat bed) and others it will take them a long time to perform consistantly at test level.

POSTED BY
Front-Foot-Lunge
on | December 17, 2012, 13:22 GMT

@speed99yamaha, What a waste of a post. As everyone who watches cricket knows, Australia are the current MINNOWS of world cricket and have been for the last few years. Why do think the current Sri Lanka Vs Australia series has been labelled by many as the "Christmas Minnow Bash"? Care to comment on How Australia are doing in their spin department? Or batting/seamers department. Can't wait to hear this one. :)

POSTED BY
kumar692
on | December 17, 2012, 13:20 GMT

No doubts that Indian batsmen weren't at their best of form in whole series except some good knocks here and there but not good enough...One difference between Indian side and England side was that English men were well prepared in every department. They've knew what they have to do in each session like old traditional test cricket where as Dhoni never believed in preparing game plans or tactics against each batsmen. He believes in applying his so called "Super Instinct or tactics" on the ground which is not working for him past couple of years or so. He has lost around 10 test matches in these years and each time in a way pathetic way(Without any fight) to be honest. It's not a good sign for Indian Cricket by any means.

Either he has lost his flavors or he's not been able to motivate his side in any sense. I truly believe that it's time for Dhoni to quit (Which he obviously won't do just like any other Indian Captain) his captaincy and concentrate on others things.

POSTED BY
bobbi_143
on | December 17, 2012, 13:20 GMT

Well..I feel more than anything else its the attitude of Indian players that's cost them this series. After winning the first test, they probably felt it would be a cake walk for them. It's always dangerous to underestimate any opponent in any condition. If Dhoni and Kohli could apply themselves in the last test, why did not they do it in previous tests and its a question on abilities of other batsmen. Indian bowling has gone down very badly. I pity Indian spinners for not being able to do what Monty and Swann could do it on Indian pitches. Indian pace/swing/ king Zaheer was no where near Anderson. Really a shame.. Its time for some real new faces in the team. Since we are not winning at home or abroad, why cannot we change the team and give chance to new guys..we might lose a few more but at least they will get the exposure. Also it's time to prepare some bouncy tracks along with spinning tracks..Lets be practical and do not be just paper tiger's.

POSTED BY
sunalsk80
on | December 17, 2012, 13:19 GMT

The effort just wasn't there as a Team. The individuals as such aren't bad just that we have not done well consistently as a team. If the in-form person is not doing well, some one should stand up and take the responsibility which was and is missing in the current team. Also, our domestic circuit is not producing quality players. Getting triple century in Ranji is not a direct VISA for Test Cricket. Players should be judged by over-seas tours (INDIA A). Also, we should bring drastic changes to domestic cricket by allowing foreign players to play.

I strongly feel Dhoni should remain in Test cricket as he is an impact player but should relive himself from Captaincy. It should be Sehwag/Gauti/Kohli.

POSTED BY
Sano27
on | December 17, 2012, 13:18 GMT

Well right from the Eng tour last year, India had played 17 test matches out of which they won 5 & lost 10......all their wins came against the low ranked test sides like WI & NZ in home conditions.......& lost 10 out of 12 test matches against the better sides like Aus & Eng......still no change in the top order, captaincy & coach.....an 8-0 thrash in the hands of Eng & Aus results in the retirement of Dravid & Lakshman....now looking forward to Tendulkar's retirement.....but the real fact is we dont have enough talent in batting , pace bowling & spin department....its a FACT....everybody is crying for a young generation in the test side.......but wont sure whether they succeed in the test format.....India's best side is undoubtfully the last decade era having legendary spinners, world class batsmen, accurate pacers.....now the condition seems that there will be a slope in the quality of cricket played by India.....an Indian Fan !

POSTED BY
MoCrik
on | December 17, 2012, 13:14 GMT

When ever is the retirement of Sachin, then only India can win. Best spot in the team took by this guy..needs a better team. The problem with our indian team is, they are all obsessed with money. Retire as many players as possible from current team and get a fresh talent, even though they stuggle for some time, it's now worth taking decision.

POSTED BY
KK47
on | December 17, 2012, 13:13 GMT

Great performance from England team and deservedly winners. Our batting was always the strong point and now it looks real shaky. It's time for senior cricketers to assess their own future and selectors to take bold decisions.

POSTED BY
disco_bob
on | December 17, 2012, 13:12 GMT

I was at first confused as to why England did not declare at lunch and see how many wickets they could take in two sessions seeing as they had the best spinners anyway. However upon reflection it seems that piling on the runs and forcing India to keep bowling all the while knowing that they had lost the series at home, was a more fitting punishment for the years of hubris that the world has had to endure.

Dhoni: We could have beaten England if we put more effort. However, with IPL 2013 coming up, we wanted to keep players fresh.
Journalist: how about Australia series?
Dhoni: yes, this is a little bit unfortunate timing, but we have to comply with international commitments - for the time being, but I will protect our best players. Between us - we have to make money to pay bills - as simple as that. England have different set-up, they can afford playing test cricket.

Putting the above aside, commitment of the Indian players was strange. Since Ahmedabad (now seems a fluke), only on day 3 of Nagpur, Indian players showed some commitment and desire the rest was just walking by...

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 13:06 GMT

all pride has gone now even we lost in home...Hope we well get rid of it we are in transition period agreed but tthe transition should be in right direction.. Losing series is not the big thing (at present) the way it lose is horibble.. bats men are responsible
..i disagree with dhoi regarding KOHLI i dont know why but kohli always flgg the dead horse. he fires after whole is burnt..Pujara is good sehwag and gambhir we need a big start..dhoni's attitude is to be changed first of all rather than excuses he should take challenges...and the spirit this is the same captain who made our colours fly in tests hope he will get that and we will come

POSTED BY
Raki99
on | December 17, 2012, 13:04 GMT

If dhoni has any professionalism left He should resign..... Very well played England. Congrates to all the English supporters and Barny army.

The worst is that the english spinners bowled better then the indian counterparts.

POSTED BY
challagalla
on | December 17, 2012, 13:01 GMT

One last thought. Any chance of victory however small must be grabbed. Maybe Dhoni could have declared behind and tried for a win. Look at Clarke declaring at 450 against Sri Lanka and going for a win. Thats positive intent and unfortunately Dhoni is not in that mold. In any case the crawl on the 4rth morning is inexcusable. Understandable from the Brits , after all a draw is still a win for them. We definitely need a captain who is bold and positive in outlook. In hindsight I see the merit in Dhonis call for turning tracks from day one. We lost in Mumbai but the match was damn interesting. Nagpur was boring and I pity the poor spectators who paid good money to watch that drudge.

POSTED BY
bravetigersmustwin
on | December 17, 2012, 12:58 GMT

Indian test cricket is in transition phase and hope they will regain the glory once again. India will seriously work out to groom some genuine test bowlers. Pujara, Kholi has given us great hope in test cricket and who know they could be out next rahul and laxman. Remember guys they are jus 24 years and have another solid 10 years cricketing career.

POSTED BY
Sanga007
on | December 17, 2012, 12:50 GMT

thing is Indians are not accepting their failure.Even in the last session no body looked worried.all they want was to get out of the ground quickly.Asking time from umpire.Perhaps they wont care about test defeat they want to win t20s and ODIs.
But remember Test cricket is the best cricket as it is challenging for batsmans technique and temperament.

POSTED BY
AvidCricFan
on | December 17, 2012, 12:50 GMT

Not only batting, bowling was mediocre too. Lets be fair here. India needs to do something about stars who perform once in 5-10 innings like Shewag and others who don't perform at all, like SRT. Gambhir may have scored few runs but it was not enough. Unless BCCI deals with these types of albatrosses, the team improvement will be far fetched. BCCI also needs to identify few promising spinners and paces and train the hack out of them. Make the pitches for domestic tournament more sporting. Make players in all formats play on demanding wickets. Pay players based on performance in longer format of game and not IPL. IPL is killing recipe for grooming talent.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:49 GMT

We lost to a better team- better planned, better balance with spinners and pace, dedicated and determined batting. It was a well oiled and professional approach that won. Indian team was a bit too over confident after the first test and soome batsmen were too casual. They were illprepared. But we shouldnt lose heart but learn from the English team about being professional and play as a team. we played as individuals. We will now get tinto the T20 and ODI frame of mind and forget thye mental strength required for playing Test cricket

POSTED BY
Cricketoo
on | December 17, 2012, 12:48 GMT

COngrats to England, They played well and deserve the victory. Sorry India, some other time.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:48 GMT

wasnt the reasoning everyone does well on their own conditions.

ummm this was your own home turf and condition. what happened?

POSTED BY
brusselslion
on | December 17, 2012, 12:48 GMT

It's difficult not to gloat given the chest thumping noises that most Indian posters were making prior to the start of the series. However, by the looks of things most of the Indian posters in this thread had the good grace to admit that England were the better team so I'll avoid the temptation.

I'd offer the following perspective on the players used by India in this series:

Gambhir, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Khan - All good/ great players in the past but all past their 'sell by' date. Get rid of them.

Two Lessons to Learn:
Never hide shortcomings by blaming the conditions.
Pitches do not win matches for you, instead players do that.

It would have been good for indian cricket had they admit that they are weak in playing on green wickets and will improve their own technique.

POSTED BY
TheMehssiah
on | December 17, 2012, 12:40 GMT

"Of course (India) lost the series, but that always happens when two big sides are playing". MS Dhoni

POSTED BY
Player_007
on | December 17, 2012, 12:40 GMT

wonder what indian batsmen will do against like to Saeed Ajmal?

POSTED BY
Playfair
on | December 17, 2012, 12:36 GMT

Blaming the batsman, does Dhoni include himself? Nevertheless poor all round show by the Indians ... India need a fresh start, a new captain that is

POSTED BY
Sandt
on | December 17, 2012, 12:36 GMT

I dont understand this man Dhoni. What is in his mind. ' we had some part-timers but we needed someone like Jadeja to keep the lid on the batsmen." he quoted this after match. is indian team his personnel property to boost his so called t20 bowlers. Dhoni is really killing Indian cricket with his politics. I cannot recall any indian captain has failed like he had in India. Please for god sake remove him from captiancy and team. we need a better player and leader. His current status is showing how important dravid,laxman etc was for the success of this team earlier. BCCI please act sensibily. How can a country like india dont have good bowlers. pathetic from BCCI. go to any street in india you can find excellent players. bring them and rescue indian cricket. This is passion of billions of people. I think like anna hasare movement we need same against bcci to open their eyes. we lovers of indian cricket should react to this and make them do something good for indian cricket.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:34 GMT

Just a few problems that India faces:
(1) Malfunctioning openers AND no replacements in sight.
(2) Screwed up middle order No 3 to 6, with no certainties
(3) An out of form wicket keeper batsmen AND no replacement
(4) Lack of spinners and fastbowlers, empty cupboard.
Just these four problems.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:34 GMT

Can anyone please jus drop Tendulkar if he doesn't want to retire. We were expecting to here the announcement of his retirement soon after this test series. Even if India plays against our beloved Zimbabwe, Tendulkar won't score any valuable runs jus like he did against Australia & England. Time is up He has been great throughout his career but not now. Follow good examples like the great Rahul Dravid who retired wen we still wanted more of him, The real master Ricky Ponting who is full of humility. Sir Tendulkar its high time you open your eyes "EVERY GOOD THING COMES TO AN END HERE ON PLANET EARTH'' JUST GO THERE'S A LOT OF SUPER GOOD BETSMEN WHO CAN REPLACE YOU.

POSTED BY
Cpt.Meanster
on | December 17, 2012, 12:32 GMT

Well played England. Thoroughly deserved series win. I told you all before the series how this Indian team were underdogs. Well here you go guys, the result proves I was right. In TEST cricket, India are next to useless. They will continue to be useless because honestly, not many people care about test cricket any more in India. Especially with such a lifeless pitch as this one, it's fairly obvious. Besides, many of the Indian players enjoy the limited overs formats a lot more. It's a fact, which they will deny. Anyway, England proved they are a team on the rise yet again to target the no.1 ranking in test cricket. With such a good team, the Ashes should be safe in the UK come 2013.

POSTED BY
here2rock
on | December 17, 2012, 12:30 GMT

Dhoni and Duncan had made the mockery of Test Cricket.

POSTED BY
Player_007
on | December 17, 2012, 12:29 GMT

England really out played India in every department. There was a lot of hype created and Indian team was aiming for 4-0 win but kudos to England they played superbly. They have batsmen who score runs and bowlers who can take wickets not like Indian team, big names but 0 performance. Dhoni should step down before he gets sacked and admit that he has completely lost it and not a good captain any more!!

POSTED BY
Gloryof96
on | December 17, 2012, 12:29 GMT

No point Kholi or Dhoni scoring runs after the series is decided. Great players are guys who produces the goods to decide a series not the otherway around.

Also BCCI has to get their act regarding selection of test pitches, if pitches such as in Nagpur are in the cards for future test matches, this is one reason why Ind draw most matches at home but much more worse, its guilty of aiding and abetting for the death of Test Cricket!!

Congrats England for playing great brand of cricket after being 0-1.Win/Loss is part of the game but the way India got the thrashing is really really disappointing. The last 2 days the team played as if they came for a picnic in Nagpur. Why are spinners in the team to bowl with field spread? If that is the case then non-regular bowlers can bowl and we can play 9 batsmen and 2 bowlers. The era of Azhar, Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid was better with attacking field settings at least at home. But with Dhoni what can you expect who is a great ODI player and plays every T20 match possible.It looked like India was happy with a score line of 2-1 than having 3-1 loss.We do not need to groom a batsmen, we get them day-in/day-out. We need to groom spinners similar to Anil may be Rahul Sharma and not a slow spinner.Sehwag was a dummy all through the series in the slips,fielding must improve,get a new coach. If India plays with this spirit against Aus then forget a 2-1 loss.It will be easily Aus 4-0.

Having watched just about every ball of the series, I have to say that I wonder whether most of the current crop of Indian players really care about test cricket any more. After all, why should they flog themselves batting/bowling for hours/days on end with very little to show for it except perhaps a few more points in the ICC Table, when for a couple of hours work on a couple of days for a couple of weeks, they can become millionaires.

batsmen should take responsibilty ,, why should i alone take the blame- Dhoni. same shold have been applied for both world cup wins.. Non sense this 99 runs fron dhoni is a curse,,Probably he is going to destroy indian test cricket 1 more year

POSTED BY
speed99yamaha
on | December 17, 2012, 12:21 GMT

indian cricket dead already.......our opening batting...gone....but our selection committe still they going to talk.....read our opening batsman average and performance last 2 year and 3 year before....they do very well...they perform very good like that...please if not take serious action...sure...we lost serious again aussie tour...confirm.....even we lost serious again banglesh also....dead selection committe...still how many years u going to talk past record only....we r present day..doomdays also near...take serious action...throw gambler/shewag......OPENING Rahane and Mukund ...middle order Pujara and Tiwary and Kohli ...here are plenty of "Real" Test players outside..wait for call......please refreshing batting lineup...STOP TALKING..their past decade centuries ......

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:20 GMT

i think Indian selection committee should try something different for T20 Squad against England! They should test each players ability. Losing with 11 debut players is far better than losing with experienced players! C'mon India find your seat. Put Some challenge!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:20 GMT

Sriram I seriously pity your thinking England were not the team that was afraid it was Team India.If at all you watched the game today you would have seen India sulking down and praying for the end to come early as soon as 2nd session post lunch started.Any sane Cricket follower would know that there was nothing in this dead pitch which could help in a victory so England batted on rather than making a useless declaration watch unwilling Indian batsmen go thro the motion

POSTED BY
KarachiKid
on | December 17, 2012, 12:19 GMT

I think the problems that Sub Continental teams face are structural and long term. Indians are too much indulged in IPL and ODI's. Their crowd loves ball being hit around the park, resulting in flat tracks and slowing down of quick bowlers. Basically dearth of wicket takers. Pakistan's first class structure is not robust and quality of grounds and pitches are not aiding devleopment of genuine top class batsmen and wicket keepers. Its seems if the wickets remain flat Pakistan will also lose quick bowlers. Sri Lankan set up its own problems. Bangladesh is a good quality limited overs team, ODI and T20 only but in tests, it should not be playing those. It should play 4-day games with Ireland, Zembabwe and "A" team of test playing nations.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:17 GMT

Thinks indian selectors need to revamp whole mental mindset of the test team..much like what india did for the t20 inaugural worls cup, when all the seniors allowed the new crop to develop...we need such mindset now..all teh seniors should eb replaced with the likes of rahane., pujara., and some new fast bowlers...
they might lose like this series..but atleast then we investing on the future..unlike now where we are banking on past glories!
Hope the selectors wake up...adn see changes to the australia test series!!!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:17 GMT

Dhoni has summed up three positive players Gambhir, Pujara, Kohli excluding himself emerging from and outcome of the series. How long India should be the victim of his captaincy? The selectors should sack him forthwith and make Tendulkar a knowledgable cricketer as captain who is very much willing to continue in the team. Now he will accept the captaincy willingly

POSTED BY
balajit
on | December 17, 2012, 12:15 GMT

Finally the torture has come to an end! England deserving winners!

Well as for as India is concerned few important things to ponder over for Test future:

1. Opening Batsman maybe to replace sehwag ( push him to middle order) he looks totally disinterested on the field though!

6. Spinners need a spin coach who will help improve their skills , basically we need spinners unorthodox or orthodox who SPIN the ball!

7.Coach should go ! make dravid or ganguly coach

8. Anybody who is not fit forget being super athletic should not be considered to play for India.

POSTED BY
Gloryof96
on | December 17, 2012, 12:14 GMT

AND then there is IPL, how long will it take before BCCI come to terms with IPL and its affects on test cricket.

No point blaming Dhoni and his players ......... responsibility is accountability, so who will come and address these issues that seems to deter India's path in future test series??

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:14 GMT

This is really a bad day for Indian cricket. Despite how great Sachin is, he should take a break, go to domestic cricket, play few games and come back to International cricket with good form.

There is no reason to have player like Sehwag who never knows when he can play cricket. This is where we miss Dravid, Laxman and Kumble.

Indian bowling departments also sucks this time.

POSTED BY
nayonika
on | December 17, 2012, 12:14 GMT

Poor Dhoni..! Going to the top took years of good cricket but to crash down and lose a home series took only one match at Nagpur. The pitches are blamed but everyone forgets it is on these same pitches we had held superiority over visitlng teams and did not lose series. Plain and simple fact is that the established players did not perform and the newer ones could not cope with the rigours of test cricket.
India will be a weak team in the Test arena for atleast two years before a revamped team gels into dependable team which can take on any opposition. Until then lets watch England, South Africa and Australia playing Test Matches.

what about the no 4 Indian Batsman who has scored 357 runs in 9 tests at an average of 23.8 this year?

POSTED BY
Ian1380
on | December 17, 2012, 12:09 GMT

How he can say Kohli's attitude is positive is beyond me. All you have to do is look at how he reacts when a player is given not out when he completely missed the ball to see his attitude is appalling.

POSTED BY
A_Vacant_Slip
on | December 17, 2012, 12:08 GMT

There is some very very nasty sour grape/sore loser comment coming here. True cricket follower would be above all this and WOULD CONGRATULATE ENGLAND ON THEIR FINE ACHIEVEMENT. @IronCobra - your comment is just the tip of iceberg - but you are just one of many.Time to grow up.

POSTED BY
DINESHCC
on | December 17, 2012, 12:08 GMT

For the past 25 years (since 1987) only two series has been lost, one in 2000 by SA and other in 2004 by Oz. No team in the world has such a home record. This record has been shattered by Dhoni & Co. Quite often all our England, Pakistan, SL and Oz fans are calling us flat track bullies. Now we can't claim that we are flat track bullies. Even in flat track also we could not play. Now it is time for Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to register their first series in India. Thank you Mr.Dhoni and the great Mr.Duncan Fletcher.

POSTED BY
realfan
on | December 17, 2012, 12:07 GMT

@cricindia.com agree with you as a fellow indian....

i wonder if these anti indians ( not only british ) started watching cricket just before the start of this series.
they so full of jealous just because indians were good for about last 15 years exept australia and south africa. where as these other teams( pakistan, srilanka, bangladesh) remained as they were in there starting phase of cricket.

not to mention india were the best team to play nt only in home but away also. the stats and wins in england,australia and SA between 2000 and 2010 tells you the story. right now they are in transition state, we need to accept that .
eventually india will be strongly back to test cricket.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:06 GMT

Did not imagine the ending of series.. thought england would give chasing opportunity to india for atleast 50 overs.. they could have ended series in a good note. It looked like they are scared of something :-)

POSTED BY
ADB1
on | December 17, 2012, 12:01 GMT

So it turns out this pitch doidn't break up at all, and in fact England had the worst of the batting conditions, in the first innings. Which means, England won the series 2-1 while effectively losing all four tosses.

And exactly what was the point of this pitch? Was the idea to prevent a 3-1 loss? Pre-series, were the Indians expecting to be ahead in the series and ordered a lifeless track to deny England any way back? Was the curator told to muck around with it at the last minute, and he killed it by mistake, or what? I'm baffled.

Anyway, well done England. A truly historic win.

POSTED BY
rocknrola
on | December 17, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Dhoni, while talking about how bad batsmen have performed never mentioned his name. Does he think he performed well or is he not considering himself as a batsman!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:00 GMT

India is now a Ordinary team :p

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 12:00 GMT

go home guys take a break!!!

POSTED BY
pathuri36
on | December 17, 2012, 11:58 GMT

Gambhir got back to runs...???..again for the australia series if selection commite selects dhoni as captain then i will stop watching ckt....talking positives after loosing in home conditions...

POSTED BY
cricsam9
on | December 17, 2012, 11:58 GMT

Its time to stop taking some positives and start refreshing batting lineup. There are plenty of "Real" Test players in Domestic waiting for a call-up.

POSTED BY
Mill1
on | December 17, 2012, 11:56 GMT

To win test matches, you need batsmen who can bat, fielders who can catch and bowlers who actually take wickets rather than talking too much after the match. On that basis here is a future test squad from an Indian fan in England:-

Reserves: The reserve tank in pretty thin, but perhaps - Rohit Sharma, Ishant, Saha, Ashwin (could be used as an opening batsmen!!).

Send many of the younger lot from this group to England, Aus and SA to play some first class cricket and gain experience. Ask them to do this while missing a season of the IPL.

Tough decisions, but from what we've seen, Ojha has taken many wickets for Surrey in his short stint there, Mukund performed in his tour match for India in England with a century, Kaif has shown ability overseas and is a good fielder and cataincy material. Yadav and Pujara show promise.

POSTED BY
freddieraghu
on | December 17, 2012, 11:56 GMT

@cricindian.com ROFL... LOL...
India could have won if ENG played in IND first and then SL, UAE.. So, for India to win the ICC must change the calender and schedule. Right???
What else??? Eng should not be allowed to play spinners Coz spin is not their weapon in past???
If Ind spinners beats the outside edge of ENG batsmen, it must be GIVEN OUT???
Or the runs scored by INDIA should be DOUBLED becoz it is Our Home???
Make ur own mate.
Plz set a series ENG vs IND on ur terras.
IND can white wash and take revenge.
But u wont accept the failure of team. And Cook not given LBW??? Loads of people weren't. Ind did not accept DRS, so should not open mouth to complain about it. and many Indian players were also saved and reprieved by Ump decisions.

POSTED BY
alcapoon
on | December 17, 2012, 11:55 GMT

Another positive thing Dhoni failed to mention is Tendulkar scored two runs instead of getting a duck. I hope he doesn't retire because i have promised my fiance that i will take our kids to Tendulkar 1000 test match in Lords.

POSTED BY
JasonGray
on | December 17, 2012, 11:55 GMT

All Indian batsman's are poor in technical ability and talent. Hence, their low success rate in tough conditions. Better stick to playing on flat tracks against minnows eh Indians. 2-1

POSTED BY
SoverBerry2
on | December 17, 2012, 11:54 GMT

Imagine the meaning of the word "Revenge" in the whole New Indian Dictionary!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:53 GMT

cricindian.com - another Indian fan talking about the '5 - 0 ODI whitewash' No one in England is interested in ODI!! Just a game for children who don't have skill for tests (and wearing silly kit). Tests are for men. You are living in the past. I could start saying 'where were India in 1876?' but it does not get us anywhere, does it?

Question is who is best at the moment IN TESTS. Forget ODI, just a vehicle for sponsorship.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:53 GMT

I read some comments here about 'fatigue' and 'exhaustion' as being causes of Indian cricket's downfall. It's total rubbish. Here is an analogy: I work 24/7, 365 days in a year, one day I come home, I feel the pain in the joints and then develop a nerve racking migraine the next morning. What do I do ? I go see the doctor who then advises me a complete rest period of a few days. The key word here is 'rest'. So if the Indian team feel they are getting tired of excessive cricket, then it's best to set up a players body and then talk to the BCCI. How about 1 or 2 months of break ? How about getting rid of the meaningless IPL for a start ? That time can be used to put some tired legs up and relax until the next major test series. No more excuses will be tolerated. Also, it's heart breaking to see former players like Dravid and Ganguly continue to play the game of self denial and hypocrisy. I wish we had many more people like Geoffrey Boycott in India. He nails those points spot on.

POSTED BY
Sporty-critic
on | December 17, 2012, 11:52 GMT

We should give credit to the English players who performed admirably well even though they were tagged 'under dogs'. Kudos to them on a wonderful series win.

Now that the Test Series is out of the way, all will forget the way our so called 'the great Indian batting line up' performed, which was nothing less than pathetic. All eyes will be on Dhoni's favourites buzz word which is T20.

The selectors should be given a free hand in selecting what they feel is good for Indian Cricket, even if that means, replacing all 11 of them. I am sure there would be 15 players who fit into the scheme of things. To start with, all players who 'select' themselves should be dropped even for T20.

Not sure if the selectors would really be allowed to perform their duties in a professional manner.

POSTED BY
BigDataIsAHoax
on | December 17, 2012, 11:50 GMT

England got stuffed 2-0 against South Africa at home. England is an average team who are good against mediocre teams, i.e., India and Bangladesh.

POSTED BY
cyberstudent
on | December 17, 2012, 11:50 GMT

Indian bowling was never good, but it was their batsman who do the job, but now its a shame their batsman can't even play on their own land. Play IPL and Chill guys.

POSTED BY
nair_ottappalam
on | December 17, 2012, 11:48 GMT

@cricindian.com, You should first know the difference between Test match and ODI. And most astonishingly most of the modern Indian batsmen play all the three formats of cricket in T20 style. The only positive from that approach is that most of the test matches bring results. Unfortunately such approach murders "real beauty of cricket". All credits to England for winning this series. I recall some lines what Gavaskar in his autobiography named "Sunny Days". We won in Sri Lanka, not because of the umpires but inspite of them (At that time Srilanka was not given official test status). Here England won in the same fashion. But one added advantage they got was the infighting in the Indian team.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:47 GMT

Good observation by Dhoni when he states that "Of course we lost the series, but that always happens when two big sides are playing." . Mr. Dhoni, everybody knows that one side is supposed to loose. But why cant we...for a change...end up on the winning side. I agreed that England was a better team on this tour...But I believe the biggest reason for their victory was the intent and passion with which they wanted to beat india....On the flip side, All we were hoping was that England batsman will get bamboozled on our turning wickets and give us easy victories which.. sadly.. did not happened. We were not willing to fight our way to victory...I believe we should have two very different teams for Tests and one days/T20s to solve the problem. Dhoni, Gambhir, Jadeja, Chawla, Sachin should not be a part of the test team. People who are willing to grind and spend long hours in the middle should only be part of test matches. Not the ones who treat test cricket as an annoying break between T20s

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:46 GMT

I agree with Abhay Kumar. This is a transition period for India. Even the great Australians has faced this issue after their legends have retired from the game. We don't have Saurav, Kumble, Dravid and Laxman. Now the age is catching up our Sehwag and Zaheer. I will not include Sachin, he should have joined first in that list. At least he has given his place today for some time to a substitute player coz of a mild injury while he was fielding. Sachin, we are really proud of you for your sympathy towards young players! The way Sachin is batting, I bet he can't save a single match for India in upcoming Aus series.

POSTED BY
hassaanster
on | December 17, 2012, 11:46 GMT

@cricindian...1) its the BCCI that has a problem with DRS not ECB...your board is at fault here so quit complaining 2) yes england got used to conditions but let me remind you india were playing at home so still it was england who had to adapt not india 3) comparing odi results to tests lol...shows how much you understand the game 4) quit whining and accept that Eng were the better side

POSTED BY
sahajpalsingh
on | December 17, 2012, 11:45 GMT

Again excuse.......by Dhoni........its not INDIAN team playing ........half of CSK are in team because of DHONI....even a small kid can bowl better than him along with Jadeja....

DHONI good fortune start with Win against Pakistan in T20 world cup and will was with white was by Pakistan in India.......it will be good for long term...dhoni should be sacked and Dinesh Kartik should be keeper ....he is 10000% better than DHONI..........

POSTED BY
Mill1
on | December 17, 2012, 11:44 GMT

I cannot understand how Dhoni can say that 1) our spinners were on the mark, 2) Kholi's batting and attitude were a positive, 3) Gambhir was back in the runs!!!! India got rid of Wasim Jaffer needlessly when he had done nothing wrong and replaced with Gambhir who has a big attitude problem. If India want the truth they need to replace both openers. Bring in Mukund who scored a century in first class cricket on the England tour, plus look at Mohammed Kaif. He was once considered a future captain, and wasn't really given a proper chance. He proved it could play in England. Yadav as a quick bowler did well in the first test before getting injured, as did Pujara.

POSTED BY
Valavan
on | December 17, 2012, 11:43 GMT

@FrontFootLunge. mate relax, we won it so we enjoy it. We should not follow indian way (except some) of poking and war of words. @cricindian.com, oh god the series is over and done and dusted, RaviShastri, MSDhoni, Sunil Gavaskar, the whole cricket world knows the Better Team (England) won the series. so you can weep in silence rather coming to show your frustration. BELIEVE IT ENGLAND WON, ANYONE BRINGING SA IN THIS PICTURE IS JUST A SORE LOOSER. Take a walk. cricinfo please publish

POSTED BY
nair_ottappalam
on | December 17, 2012, 11:41 GMT

1984
The day the tide turned on England's all-conquering tour of India, as they squared the series with an eight-wicket win in the second Test in Delhi. Most of them still had no answer to young leggie Laxman Sivaramakrishnan - he took seven of the 11 English wickets to fall - but Tim Robinson did. Playing in only his second Test, he anchored England's first innings with a magnificent eight-hour 160. England's old stagers Phil Edmonds and Pat Pocock (combined match figures: 160-57-306-13, combined age: 72) gave India a taste of their own medicine.

History repeated on December 17th 2012

POSTED BY
C.A-SA1987
on | December 17, 2012, 11:40 GMT

@Posted by cricindian.com on (December 17 2012, 11:26 AM GMT)

I am a South African and Indian supporter so don't mistake me for an
English fan, but in all fairness and honesty, I have to side with the English fans. The Indians have been GLOATING about what's gonna happen when England come to India. You had the players, but lacked the attitude. The worst thing that can happen now is for the Indian fans to be unsavoury and sour in defeat; the match is done, series dusted... Let's all be gentlemen please.

POSTED BY
vaithya
on | December 17, 2012, 11:40 GMT

In England tour our batsman not able to bat against fast/
Seam bowling and In India out batsman not able to bat against spin. It is a great shame

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:39 GMT

As an Indian supporter, I take this opportunity to congratulate the 'mother' of test cricket on her wonderful achievement of winning a series in India after a long, and hard 28 years. It's a momentous occasion and one which every cricket fan should acknowledge without bias, hatred, jealousy, and bad spirit. I know I am heart broken. No words can comfort me now after the tragedy that has befallen Indian test cricket. 2 consecutive white washes, and now a first home defeat in as much as three decades. However, my education and upbringing tells me that failures are steps towards towards success. I have failed in my life many times. Yet, today I am a responsible and respected citizen of India thanks to the corrective measures very early in my life. I am sure Indian cricket can bounce back IF they try. If they sit back and be true to themselves. It's not only about money my beloved team India. It's about character and being 'men' enough to admit mistakes. It's not too late. Please wake up !

POSTED BY
DataQue
on | December 17, 2012, 11:38 GMT

Well done - England!!! On the other hand India play your freaking IPL....

POSTED BY
itsthewayuplay
on | December 17, 2012, 11:38 GMT

Teams can collapse twice on tracks that turn from day one, such as India but England rack up 523 against spinners who were supposedly on the mark.

POSTED BY
Boston_Legal
on | December 17, 2012, 11:37 GMT

I don't know how things work over there, but Kohli's batting a positive... just for a century on a flat track after 5 failures in a row? I still believe Sehwag is India's number one (maybe number two now, behind Pujara) batsman, and his performance was nothing to be ashamed of, a century and a couple of very good starts. Where India failed was in the bowling department. Ojha's success was not anticipated, and Ashvin was over-relied on, and clearly doesn't yet know what his stock ball is. No new ball bowlers, and no third spinner.

Wonder if Lord Sugar asks Dhoni who he would bring back to the boardroom, will he be courageous enough to bring Sachin back? Even then, I fear there will be a double firing...

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:36 GMT

IPL Effect. No team member is really is going to shed tears over these losses.

POSTED BY
Rajeshj
on | December 17, 2012, 11:35 GMT

Gambhir got back into runs... and Kohli has proved his worth by a hundred on flat and dead pitch... my goodness.. Mr. Dhoni has lost his minds and has still not learned anything from these relentless defeats... hope the selectors show some spine at least now by going for a total change in the team... Sehwag/Gambhir should be shown the door... Dhoni and Kohli be put on the scanner to prove their worth on better match situations.. pull in some decent pair of fast bowlers (no harm in trying Praveen Kumar again.. he bowled his heart out in England... we need such whole-hearted guys.. not the camera-loving charmers)..

POSTED BY
Pappu_bhai
on | December 17, 2012, 11:35 GMT

I am not able to understand how strong is this English team by winning against India.As currently India,Ausise and SL are redeveloping.
Ausise seem to have overcome upto a point.But only due to clarkes batting form.However their bowling is excellent.
SL still have Jaya and Sanga in team.Bowling is useless as one bowler herath cant win them every matches.
India doesnt have anybody.Yes Viru and Gambir.But both are looking for captaincy and want Dhoni to step down as captain.Then how will they perform?
But current status i cant judge England team.But still Cook is exceptional.Peterson is always the best.

POSTED BY
vaithya
on | December 17, 2012, 11:35 GMT

Dhoni should continue as a capitan. Drop immediatley Sewag, Tendulkar and Gambir.Try with youngsters and also remove the Indian coach without any delay. Under him England lost many series. Bring good cricket played inter national coach to India. Indian should learn at least how to play spin.

Time has come to pick good fast bowlers and good spinners. ( Current test spinners are good). Ask Koli play first down instead of 5th. Give complete rest forever to Tendulkar and Shwag.

POSTED BY
BigDataIsAHoax
on | December 17, 2012, 11:35 GMT

England won against a mediocre team. But got pasted at home against South Africa 2-0 and against Pakistan 3-0. England is an average team at best, which was made to look good because of the mediocre Indian team. What is shameful is the shoddy state of Indian cricket.

POSTED BY
itsthewayuplay
on | December 17, 2012, 11:35 GMT

Whilst our spinners are young and inexperienced and we have to be patient with them but I can't believe MSD feels they were on the money in this series. Even on this ridiculous pitch the English spinners turned the ball more and beat the bat more often then ours did. To be honest, really only one good delivery in England's 1st innings and that was Ishant to Compton, the others will be disappointed with their shot selection. I'm scared to think what it would take for MSD to admit the spinners were not up to the mark and had been outbowled by Monty and Swanny.

POSTED BY
VinodGupte
on | December 17, 2012, 11:35 GMT

this series marks an end to indian test cricket as we know it. we have witnessed the golden era of indian test cricket up until a year ago. now it is all downhill. and only downhill. with superstars like VVSL, RSD, AK and SRT back in the hut, it is not possible for india to win test matches even at home, let alone abroad. india will do good in ODIs, but not in tests. and then test cricket will die in india.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:34 GMT

Indian Test Team is a joke...
Led by a man who can't play test cricket...
Sachin... you decide, after-all, you know what's best for you...
Ishant Sharma.. LOL
Pragyan Ojha... X-(
Ravichandran Ashwin... Did he get his mystery ball ?
Ravindra Jadeja... he is as useless as the previous Jadeja...
The team is a farce, a joke...

POSTED BY
AB99
on | December 17, 2012, 11:31 GMT

RIP Indian Cricket. At least, Kumbale, Dravid, Laxman, Sourav never played a loosing home series to England. The skipper has a great sense of humour what with - No mention of poor batting of Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni, useless bowling by Ashwin and Zaheer in II Innings at Ahmedabad, and at Mumbai and Kolkatta, no mention of club class wicket keeping, no mention of poor captaincy ... what a shame!!

POSTED BY
Iday
on | December 17, 2012, 11:30 GMT

"our spinners were right on the mark", "two sessions, or four hours, that really change the course of the Test match", "Gambhir got back into runs", "we have plenty of positives to look up to" - Dhoni and the bullshit world he lives in. Somebody must smack him out of this nonsense.

POSTED BY
Big_Poppa_94
on | December 17, 2012, 11:30 GMT

You really think it is easy to produce a fast bowler in India?

You can't produce green-tops in India. The baking hot sun BURNS any grass on the pitch.
You get totally burnt-out as a fast bowler, when your steaming in.
Even Anderson struggled as well. How regularly was he steaming in and bowling 90mph? Not often.

You need high altitude or overcast conditions to develop fast swing bowlers.
Pakistan have got it near the Khyber pass etc and don't forget that Pakistanis eat a lot of meat (high in protein) besides pork.

Also, Indians have a mainly VEGETARIAN diet. You can't build up a muscly physique, if you're not eating meat.
All the English eat beef, pork, chicken, lamb etc. They have a high protein diet, hence they got a strong physique.

All of you morons should think before criticising.
Y'all know nothing about cricket.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:30 GMT

@Front-Front-Lunge: Hello friend, congrats on the win. While I do whole heartedly commend and recognize this wonderful achievement by England, I also would like to remind you that THIS Indian team is anything but 'good'. They are slightly above average to what you would expect from a test nation. Still, a win is a win and England have achieved it after 28 long years. I would also appreciate it if England fans treat this occasion with class and respite compared to a few bitter minded Indian supporters. It's only a sport after all. The relationship between England and India should be much greater and lovely than a war of words and banter. Hope you agree.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:29 GMT

England needs all the congratulations they can get for a professional, hungry performance. Not only that - they got out and did good via time and fund-raising for poor kids around the country...
Indian stars failed, but they'll come back. Its just that in other teams where performance-du-jour and accountability are held in higher esteem, they'd be dropped on performance and never get to such mega-star, undroppable status. But the Indian psyche differs....it needs millions of of gods and stars, perhaps.

POSTED BY
cricsam9
on | December 17, 2012, 11:29 GMT

"But we have plenty of positives to look up to" - dhoni.....reallyyy?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:29 GMT

For once i would agree with Dhoni. This was a poor pitch. May be BCCI has lost trust in team India. A spinning pitch would have made this last test so much more exciting regardless of whoever wins.

POSTED BY
symsun
on | December 17, 2012, 11:29 GMT

Dear Dhoni, offcourse we have a few positives to cheer about. But what about the negatives hindering the team for so long. If the most brave and courageous player, Dhoni himself avoids such conflicts, then whom else can come out & speak openly. Who has the courage. Definitely neither the BCCI nor the Selectors ? Only those Selfish Players should think!

POSTED BY
sawifan
on | December 17, 2012, 11:28 GMT

Wow Dhoni, u just don't get it. India losing here is like AUS losing the last Ashes in AUS. The difference, after the Ashes debacle, no Aussie player was talking about 'positives', they were (rightfully) embarrassed about their performance. And here Dhoni is crediting his players. And Kohli's behaviour was a positive?! I actually dont mid his brashness, tho he needs to turn it down a bit, however, when a player from another team plays like this, Indian players and fans point the finger and scream 'bad-sport'! And @Front-foot-lunge... i know u love talking bs and talking up any ENG win, and kudos to the boys here, they out-played IND, but this is hardly a 'good' Indian team, as has been shown by their recent results. If AUS win here next, what does that say about ENG and AUS, especially considering AUS only lost 1-0 to SAF and we weren't even the #1 team. Keep ur crowing low, or we might start thinking ur an Indian fan!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:27 GMT

what a joke kohlis attitude was a positive.he is a disgrace in my eyes,a spoilt brat who should concentrate on his poor performance in the series rather than picking fights with the opposiion who have shoved it down his mouth.dhoni and almost all of india especially former cricketers are in denial.

POSTED BY
zak_neutron
on | December 17, 2012, 11:27 GMT

SPOTY 2013 - Alistair Cook anyone?

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 17, 2012, 11:27 GMT

Had never imagined the score line would be 1-2 here. Eng have played well so congrats to them but India have played far far worse than any of us ever thought. It seems as if they were stuck in something, never able to do much or deal properly. Each time there was a critical moment in the series India lost it and actually lost it without much fight. The 3rd innings in Mumbai is a case in point and so is the 3rd innings in Kolkata and the 2nd innings in Nagpur. India's batsmen lost it right in the beginning of each of these innings. Not just here, it happened in Eng and in Aus too. A team needs good bowlers to WIN a test match but a team also needs good batsmen to at least DRAW a test match. Faf and ABD did just that vs Aus 10 days back, none of the Ind batsman could do even a quarter of it. It seems as if the Ind team is sort of desensitized towards cricket as of now. Is it due to excess cricket? Is it like Muscle Fatigue? I hope not. I hope Ind does better vs Pak and Oz.

POSTED BY
BigDataIsAHoax
on | December 17, 2012, 11:27 GMT

Dhoni does not know what he is talking. That has always been the case. Only difference was Anderson? Who is he kidding? Did he even care to see the difference between English spinners and Indian spinners? English spinners made a mockery of the so called experts and Indian spinners struggled against batsmen who were supposed to flounder against spin. PLEASE SACK DHONI!!! PLEASE SOMEBODY!!! I CANNOT STAND THE GUY ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!

POSTED BY
cricindian.com
on | December 17, 2012, 11:26 GMT

Front-foot-Lunge, where was your green-top specialist when facing SA at home, remember Eng could not win even one match against SA at home.
Also, Cook was not given out in the previous two tests even before he had scored 50. IF DRS had been applied in those matches the series scoreline might well have been different. Just one last point, for the last 12 months Eng have been playing in subcontinent against Pak, SL and now India......no wonder they got used to the conditions and won against India!
I doubt whether they would have won the series had they played India first followed by Pak and SL. This can be confirmed by the 5-0 thrashing Eng received from India in ODIs after winning the test and ODI series in Eng against India last year.

POSTED BY
cricindian.com
on | December 17, 2012, 11:26 GMT

Front-foot-Lunge, where was your green-top specialist when facing SA at home, remember Eng could not win even one match against SA at home.
Also, Cook was not given out in the previous two tests even before he had scored 50. IF DRS had been applied in those matches the series scoreline might well have been different. Just one last point, for the last 12 months Eng have been playing in subcontinent against Pak, SL and now India......no wonder they got used to the conditions and won against India!
I doubt whether they would have won the series had they played India first followed by Pak and SL. This can be confirmed by the 5-0 thrashing Eng received from India in ODIs after winning the test and ODI series in Eng against India last year.

POSTED BY
nair_ottappalam
on | December 17, 2012, 11:25 GMT

England lost the first test on account of their poor batting in the first innings. Yet, they took the positives from that test wherein their captain came up with a mammoth 176 in tiring conditions. England grew from strength to strength throughout the series henceforth. All the batsmen, Cook, Compton, KP, Bell, Root and even Swann performed with the bat at one time or other. And the batsmen who stood tall was none other than Matt Prior. Panesar, Swann and Anderson excelled with the ball and in the only test he played, Finn made his presence felt. Tailor made pitches for Indian spinners were better exploited by the English spinners (one of them being Panesar, an Indian by origin). On the other hand, India tried to drag the cart with old and spent off bulls and kept on complaining about the pitches and odd umpiring decisions. Mind you, The English had also to encounter those conditions. It is high time Dhoni be sacked as test captain and Sachin asked to retire forcefully.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:25 GMT

Cmon MSD, u got to be better than that. A collosal failure for the bowling unit, a batting lineup that more often than not collapses faster than paper houses in an earthquake. And you have the temerity to say that there have been positives in the series ? After his ton at Mumbai Pujara has struggled to reach 30, more importantly when the team needed a back-to-the-wall innings from him and the rest. And bowlers tried hard but then why didnt they convert the erffort into wickets? Admit it , India were beaten fair and square by a team that was mentally stronger, well prepared and clear in its plans and execution

POSTED BY
UAETigers
on | December 17, 2012, 11:25 GMT

which positives he is talking about? Loosing two tests in a row, drawing third on a dead and lifeless wickets. He talks about two session in 2nd and 3rd matches where things went wrong. I think Indian team is playing in India and on Indian soil so how they can be soo weak and clueless on spinning tracks? Simply India was not prepared and England was well prepared. This is the only difference between two teams and I am sure lot of people would agree to this.

POSTED BY
itsthewayuplay
on | December 17, 2012, 11:24 GMT

Good possibility the scoreline would have been 4-0 if England hadn't imploded in the 1st innings of the 1st test and if the last test had been played on a sporting wicket.

POSTED BY
here2rock
on | December 17, 2012, 11:22 GMT

Has Tendulkar announced his retirement? Has the 80 years old curator for the Kolkata Cricket Ground retired?

POSTED BY
Narbavi
on | December 17, 2012, 11:21 GMT

Time for introspection no doubt about it, better reduce the burden on MSD by appointing Virat as the t20 captain, need to build an young t20 team around him so that MSD can concentrate only in tests and odi's from now on, but i doubt if it will happen, in two days time MSD will be leading india in the t20's too, this shouldn't be happening, he is our keeper as well in all 3 formats, very tough both mentally and physically!!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:20 GMT

Hats off to England for this convincing victory. Mind you, Pakistan whitewashed the same English side in a 3-match test series in Abu Dhabi this year. I couldn't understand what happened with the Indian batting, which is their major strength.

POSTED BY
Narbavi
on | December 17, 2012, 11:19 GMT

Well, i feel sorry for MS, has been receiving all the flak at a time when it should be the batsmen who are to be blamed more, Sachin needs to retire, if he carries on, then i don't know what to say, bring in Rahane, and the selectors should talk to Gambhir and Sehwag and warn them that they will also be dropped if they don't perform against Australia, as far bowlers are concerned, right now we need to find the other pacer to partner Umesh Ashwin and Ojha for the Aus series!!

POSTED BY
kurups
on | December 17, 2012, 11:19 GMT

What is Dhoni thinking!? Kohli struggled and got one hundred...Gambhir had a scratchy performance...Only positive for India is Pujara. Period!..If this is Dhoni's grasp on things we r in for bigger trouble!!

POSTED BY
Gloryof96
on | December 17, 2012, 11:17 GMT

Batsmen set up a match BUT its the bowlers that win matches. Faster BCCI realise this and get some young quicks in who can bowl close 140kmph, until then forget Ind winning any series (they may win the odd test here n there but not a series).

Being a Sri Lankan we know how hard its is because we don't have strike bowling seamers. To me the definition of a strike bowlers is a guy who averaging at least 4 wickets a match with an average under 30 and anything beyond this criteria are passengers!

POSTED BY
itsthewayuplay
on | December 17, 2012, 11:17 GMT

MSD mentioned 2 big sides, one of whom is England. Who is the other one he's referring to?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:17 GMT

Much of a lesson for the Indian cricket team. More for BCCI & the selection commetee
hand picked by the Board President

POSTED BY
cricketpurist
on | December 17, 2012, 11:16 GMT

what are you thinking Dhoni " we have plenty of positives to look up to." ?? the only +ve you have got is our Great Sachin days are numbered and you can show him the door. Where is your good friend Mr.Raina was he the one talking about revenge and all that ask him what does he want to say now.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:15 GMT

one of the worst performance from whole team in this sereis,one of the worst ever bowling attack

POSTED BY
pauliangenius
on | December 17, 2012, 11:13 GMT

dhoni!!! after reading your comments, i think Indian cricket is going nowhere!!!! For sake you should be stripped of the captaincy.. how can bcci tolerate such a pathetic test captain under which team waere whitewashed clean in Australia and England and now at home, losing to a side vulnerable to spin, i think it is the final nail in the coffin.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:13 GMT

Common India .. This was expected . after the retirement of Kumble and Harbhajan's Slump in Form .. and retirememts of Batting Stalwarts like Dravid and Laxman... I am sure India will get Up like other teams ... But for now pull out your socks for ODI against England and show them what we mean in ODI's...........

POSTED BY
here2rock
on | December 17, 2012, 11:12 GMT

No more excuses Mr. Dhoni, just quit from Test Matches. Your are a shocker as a captain. Bowling is weak because you show no confidence in your bowlers. The whole team selection was a shamble. There was no balance to the team, just one fast bowler in two test matches?

POSTED BY
Pappu_bhai
on | December 17, 2012, 11:11 GMT

I believe Dhoni,Sehwag,Gambir should be dropped after the series.Its not based on performance.But at the moment they are playing for captaincy.All the three want the captiancy.

Better we cold have a non playing Test captian Ganguly who will sit out and lead the team through microphone which is connected to Kohli.I dont tell we will win every match with this brand new team but certainly in 1-2 years we will be back to the best.

As the current situation These three big guys will only bias the team and spoil youngsters attitude towards the game.We wont have any change with the current team even if we are playing for 1-2 years.

POSTED BY
ravi_hari
on | December 17, 2012, 11:09 GMT

It is very clear who was the winner. But did the looser realise why they lost? First it was overconfidence. Second it was lack of skill and third it was lack of 'fire in the belly'. With a laid back captain like Dhoni who himself had a very poor series, the team cannot expect to win. One collapse is enough to loose a test. India had too many this series. The team combination was poor and most of the players looked jaded by the second test itself. After Ahmedabad people were talking of a revenge white wash. At the end of it, it seems like India ws lucky to win the first test. Otherwise it could have been 3-0 if Panesar played there. Any amount of praise is less for Cook & Co. They applied themselves very well and never lost sight of the target they set for themselves. Winning the series was their mission and they accomplished it in style. They could have made the last test interesting by declaring when the lead was 250. They were more than happy with a 2-1 win and helped Bell get a ton.

POSTED BY
AVM3
on | December 17, 2012, 11:09 GMT

If India wants to play better in future selectors need to consider:
a) Handover reins to Kohli. Dhoni and Gambhir given last chance against Aussies to perform or go out.
b) Sachin should be told to retire and not wait till 200th test.Sehwag dropped.
c) Give less priority to Individual stats and records like sehwag and Bhajji's 100th tests.
d) no bit sn pieces player like Jadeja. Need to have Rayudu, Rohit, Manoj and Rahane as the next gen of middle order batsmen.
e) try people who can bowl in 140's.
e) Don't bother about commercial ads and corporate pressure. when some performs the old ones will be replaced with them for ads. Ashwin, Pujara have started getting ads!
f) NO regional quota system. Best XI in India should be playing.

POSTED BY
Fazil1
on | December 17, 2012, 11:08 GMT

Yes, it is correct that batsmen should take responsibility. All will agree, it is time for Tendulkar to retire. It is best for him to retire and allow other players to take his place. There are many genuine players like Kohli in India. There is a real need of fast bowlers in Indian Test Cricket. Zaheer era is over.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:05 GMT

I think the BCCI should play more often against teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe so that the Indian team knows what it is like to experience a win. Even lowly-ranked but established sides like the Windies and Kiwis will fancy their chances in a Test match now, having been inspired by England's blueprint in this series. India have the worst bowling attack in the world out of the established eight teams. How shameful that out of a population of 1 billion people, they still haven't managed to produce a real fast bowler ever. Indian fans think they have the divine right to be the best team in the world always because they have the largest population in the world. By that logic, India's has 20x as many people as England, so India should be 20x better than England, right? Doesn't quite work that way. In that case, Bangladesh would be amongst the top three cricket teams in the world because they have a population of more than 150 million people.

POSTED BY
shyambhau
on | December 17, 2012, 11:04 GMT

Dhoni bhai, the happiness and high fives being shown and exchanged after trott got out was sad.
Why was the bowler happy. just because he got a wicket on day, other bowlers from his team could not get till then. and why did you give high five to the bowler on that dismissal, oh yes, he is your team mate. Long live csk.

POSTED BY
Harlequin.
on | December 17, 2012, 11:04 GMT

Kohli's attitude was a positive??!!

POSTED BY
Raggie
on | December 17, 2012, 11:03 GMT

Gambhir got back into runs ? Was Dhoni sleeping all these test matches. Gambhir was back to running out his team mates not runs

POSTED BY
FazleAbed
on | December 17, 2012, 11:01 GMT

Yuvraj takes the responsibility and out from the squad, But what about sachin tendulkar? Is he really taking the responsibility? Why he is in the side when he is not performing? Number 4 and 6 does not contribute any for India. Is there any better keeper Batsman india has accept Dhoni? I believe india is going no where.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:01 GMT

Hats off to England the way they handled spin bowling which India had been proud of over the years. Away wins are greatest achievements for every test playing nations especially it is India and in Australia.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 11:01 GMT

Mr Dhoni is very good post match analyst ...he would become a damn good commentator!...actually he should try it sooner than he thinks he would...i know he wants to serve the army..we need such positive analytical minds at the borders!

POSTED BY
Alok505
on | December 17, 2012, 11:01 GMT

Time for Dhoni to be sacked as test captain , Sachin with great respect has been a selfist cricketed ...last 2 years statistics is too bad . He should be replace with young batsman like Rahane or Jiwanjot Singh of Punjab ( a good Opener also look his start of domestic career ).

POSTED BY
freddieraghu
on | December 17, 2012, 11:00 GMT

Dhoni said Panesar was the difference after losing in Mumbai...
Now saying Anderson is the difference...
Some more names??? Cook, KP, Prior???
All made the difference...
Everyone in ENG team is superior to their IND counterparts...

POSTED BY
Front-Foot-Lunge
on | December 17, 2012, 11:00 GMT

What a thrashing India have been given here, England can now boast a flat-deck/green-top specialist better than Zaheer ever was, the world's two best spinners, best test opener and a batting line up now proven beyond all doubt of being able to play spin. They've gone to India, taken on a good Indian team, and given them a thrashing.

Now we know why India wanted a dead pitch here - to save them the shame of a 3-1 defeat. Needless to save, if this were a timeless test, England would have been able to win here. Needless to say also, if this test had been played by the rules the rest of the world plays cricket, with DRS, England would've won quickly. To all those Indian critics who have been proved embarrassingly wrong about Anderson, Cook, Swann - Will you now kindly be man enough to admit you were wrong and never again believe something quite so strongly? England - the conquerors of the sub-continent!

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 10:59 GMT

Gambhir got back into runs... spinners were right on the mark ...

This speech needs a bit more spice may be "I'm the best ever Test captain India has ever had"

POSTED BY
land_slide
on | December 17, 2012, 10:58 GMT

of course the batsmen must take responsibility....because there were no 'bowlers' in the team, there were 'batsmen of repute' and the lesser batsmen

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 10:56 GMT

"Plenty of positives" after getting decimated on our home turf. What universe is Dhoni living in?

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 10:56 GMT

India should win England in the upcoming T20s. Better luck next time India. Hope for the best.MS Dhoni should select better players for T20.

POSTED BY
Humdingers
on | December 17, 2012, 10:56 GMT

India can blame everyone in their squad apart from Pujara.
Sehwag - losing your middle stump playing inside the line on a pitch like this was unacceptable.
Ghambir - has to be dropped.
Kohli - poor the entire series except in this match.
SRT - enough said.
Yuvraj - should never had been in the side.
Dhoni - has to be stripped of the captaincy and dropped from the test squad.
Ashwin - needs to be played as an all rounder not a front line bowler.
Ishant - needs to be consistent. Would have been handy if he had more support in this match.
Zaheer - bye bye. you've served the country well, now it's time to go.
Ojha - maybe still a place as a containing bowler. LFS is useful.

Time to bring in the Rahanes, Munkunds, Chands etc. Tough times ahead, but like the Aussies under Border and later Steve Waugh did, you can stick to a core group and make them mentally tough.

POSTED BY
777aditya
on | December 17, 2012, 10:54 GMT

Dhoni clearly seems to be in denial. The only positive in this series after the first match was Amarnath's startling disclosure. BCCI surely needs to take some drastic steps to avoid further embarrassments - Pakistan or Australia are certainly not going to be easier opponents with such a lacklustre Indian team.

POSTED BY
Samar_Singh
on | December 17, 2012, 10:54 GMT

Thanks to the Nagpur Curator for preparing the face saving Pitch . Otherwise the result was sure to be 3-1 .. Thanks a lot Mr. Curator . You definitely deserve a Bharat Ratna for this effort.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 10:54 GMT

the all tried and tested statement from Dhoni : pitch was just not behaving properly so the bowlers took only 3 wickets.....not seen any english cricketer talking about the pitches so much, didn't hear a single excuse from them.............Dhoni's statements are laughable, he id doing everything to save his captaincy tactics.....he never tried to win this game, he was too worried for a 3-1 defeat it seems

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POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 10:54 GMT

the all tried and tested statement from Dhoni : pitch was just not behaving properly so the bowlers took only 3 wickets.....not seen any english cricketer talking about the pitches so much, didn't hear a single excuse from them.............Dhoni's statements are laughable, he id doing everything to save his captaincy tactics.....he never tried to win this game, he was too worried for a 3-1 defeat it seems

POSTED BY
Samar_Singh
on | December 17, 2012, 10:54 GMT

Thanks to the Nagpur Curator for preparing the face saving Pitch . Otherwise the result was sure to be 3-1 .. Thanks a lot Mr. Curator . You definitely deserve a Bharat Ratna for this effort.

POSTED BY
777aditya
on | December 17, 2012, 10:54 GMT

Dhoni clearly seems to be in denial. The only positive in this series after the first match was Amarnath's startling disclosure. BCCI surely needs to take some drastic steps to avoid further embarrassments - Pakistan or Australia are certainly not going to be easier opponents with such a lacklustre Indian team.

POSTED BY
Humdingers
on | December 17, 2012, 10:56 GMT

India can blame everyone in their squad apart from Pujara.
Sehwag - losing your middle stump playing inside the line on a pitch like this was unacceptable.
Ghambir - has to be dropped.
Kohli - poor the entire series except in this match.
SRT - enough said.
Yuvraj - should never had been in the side.
Dhoni - has to be stripped of the captaincy and dropped from the test squad.
Ashwin - needs to be played as an all rounder not a front line bowler.
Ishant - needs to be consistent. Would have been handy if he had more support in this match.
Zaheer - bye bye. you've served the country well, now it's time to go.
Ojha - maybe still a place as a containing bowler. LFS is useful.

Time to bring in the Rahanes, Munkunds, Chands etc. Tough times ahead, but like the Aussies under Border and later Steve Waugh did, you can stick to a core group and make them mentally tough.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 10:56 GMT

India should win England in the upcoming T20s. Better luck next time India. Hope for the best.MS Dhoni should select better players for T20.

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 10:56 GMT

"Plenty of positives" after getting decimated on our home turf. What universe is Dhoni living in?

POSTED BY
land_slide
on | December 17, 2012, 10:58 GMT

of course the batsmen must take responsibility....because there were no 'bowlers' in the team, there were 'batsmen of repute' and the lesser batsmen

POSTED BY
on | December 17, 2012, 10:59 GMT

Gambhir got back into runs... spinners were right on the mark ...

This speech needs a bit more spice may be "I'm the best ever Test captain India has ever had"

POSTED BY
Front-Foot-Lunge
on | December 17, 2012, 11:00 GMT

What a thrashing India have been given here, England can now boast a flat-deck/green-top specialist better than Zaheer ever was, the world's two best spinners, best test opener and a batting line up now proven beyond all doubt of being able to play spin. They've gone to India, taken on a good Indian team, and given them a thrashing.

Now we know why India wanted a dead pitch here - to save them the shame of a 3-1 defeat. Needless to save, if this were a timeless test, England would have been able to win here. Needless to say also, if this test had been played by the rules the rest of the world plays cricket, with DRS, England would've won quickly. To all those Indian critics who have been proved embarrassingly wrong about Anderson, Cook, Swann - Will you now kindly be man enough to admit you were wrong and never again believe something quite so strongly? England - the conquerors of the sub-continent!

POSTED BY
freddieraghu
on | December 17, 2012, 11:00 GMT

Dhoni said Panesar was the difference after losing in Mumbai...
Now saying Anderson is the difference...
Some more names??? Cook, KP, Prior???
All made the difference...
Everyone in ENG team is superior to their IND counterparts...